Subramanium Ramani vs The Hon. Attorney General – CA PHC APN 21/2017-2024

In the case between the wife of Welaudan Methiyas Chandrapala alias Mervyn (Petitioner) and the Hon. Attorney General and the Attorney General’s Department (Respondents), the court addressed whether criminal proceedings may validly continue when it is established, through accepted evidence such as a death certificate, that the accused is deceased. It was held that trial proceedings have no purpose following the death of the accused and should terminate accordingly, reaffirming the principle that criminal actions abate ab initio upon the death of the accused. Reliance was placed on Section 241(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Registration of Deaths and Missing Persons (Special Provisions) Act, and relevant precedents, including Turk v R [2017] EWCA Crim 391. The impact of this deci