Abeykoon Basnayake Mudiyanselage Kapila Preethi Bandara Darmasiri vs Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC 0068/2021-2025

The case between Abeykoon Basnayake Mudiyanselage Kapila Preethi Bandara Darmasiri vs Hon. Attorney General addressed the issue of the maintainability of an appeal lodged approximately nine years beyond the statutory 14-day period and the exercise of revisionary jurisdiction. The court held that the appeal was unmaintainable due to inordinate and inexcusable delay and the appellant’s contumacious conduct of absconding, declining to exercise revisionary powers. This decision reaffirmed the principle that statutory appeal periods are strictly enforced, and revisionary jurisdiction is not warranted without exceptional circumstances or a denial of fundamental rights, especially when there is deliberate abscondence. This decision relied on Section 331(1), Section 364, and Section 241 of the Cod