Sirimavo Bandaranaike v. Ranasinghe Premadasa and Chandananda De Silva – sllr 1992 volume 2 page 001

In the case between Mrs. Sirimavo R. D. Bandaranaike (plaintiff) and Mr. Ranasinghe Premadasa, the declared winner (defendant), the court addressed whether allegations of general intimidation and non-compliance with the Presidential Elections Act prevented a majority of electors from freely exercising their franchise, thereby affecting the election’s outcome. It was held that the evidence and statistical comparisons failed to demonstrate that irregularities materially impacted the majority of votes or could have altered the result. The principle reaffirmed is that the burden lies on the petitioner to prove, on a balance of probability, that the election result was affected by the alleged irregularities. The decision relied on section 91 of the Presidential Elections Act and relevant Englis