Asela De Silva and 2 Others vs Attorney General – sllr 2012 volume 2 page 076

In the case between Asela de Silva and 2 Others (Appellants) and the Attorney General (Respondent), the court addressed the issue of whether the evidence demonstrated that all accused—including an individual with no overt act—shared a murderous common intention as required by Section 296 of the Penal Code. The court held that the collective presence of the accused with weapons, their coordinated conduct, and the sequence of events constituted sufficient evidence of a pre-arranged plan and common intention to commit murder. The principle established was that active participation in a common design, even in the absence of a specific act attributed to an accused, could attract liability under the common intention doctrine. Precedents such as Mahabub v. Emperor (1925) AC 118 were considered, e