Officer-in-Charge Police Station Dikwella vs. Rathnayaka Arachchige Rohini Rathnayaka – CA-PHC-0063/21-2025

In the case between Rathnayaka Arachchige Rohini Rathnayaka (the registered owner) and the Officer-in-Charge, Police Station Dikwella, the Hon. Attorney General, and associated legal officers, the court addressed the issue of whether adequate precautionary measures had been taken by the owner to prevent her vehicle from being used in an alleged forest offence under the amended Section 40 of the Forest Ordinance. It was held that the owner had satisfied the burden of proof by showing, on a balance of probabilities, that sufficient preventive measures had been adopted, and that the confiscation order previously issued was therefore inappropriate. The principle reaffirmed was that an owner must establish the taking of all reasonable precautions to avoid the commission of an offence with the v