Jayasinghe Mudiyanselage Lakshman Jayasinghe vs Hon. Attorney General – CA/HCC/0121/2023-2024

In the case between The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, represented by the Attorney-General’s Department, and Jayasinghe Mudiyanselage Lakshman Jayasinghe, the court addressed the issue of whether the conviction for murder should be reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under exception 4 to Section 294 of the Penal Code, specifically considering the sudden fight exception. The court held that due to the trial judge’s failure to adequately direct the jury on the sudden fight exception and the existence of evidence revealing a sudden fight, the conviction for murder was set aside and substituted with a conviction for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The decision reaffirmed the principle that trial judges are obliged to direct juries on all reasonable alte