IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA In the matter of an application for Appeal under and in terms of section 331 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979 read with terms of Article 154 P of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Court of Appeal No: Officer-in-Charge, CA (PHC) 171/22 Police station, Katana.

HC Negombo Case No. COMPLAINANT HC/REV/05/22 Vs.

MC Negombo Case No.

L 98197 Mutukuda Arachchige Janaka Nishantha Muthukuda No. 290, Pata Watta State, Akaragama.

ACCUSED Jayasooriya Arachchige Dona Mary Josephine Calista No. 478, Kongodamulla, Katana.

REGISTERED OWNER AND Jayasooriya Arachchige Dona Mary Josephine Calista No. 478, Kongodamulla, Katana.

REGISTERED OWNER-PETITIONER Vs.

1. Hon. Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12.

RESPONDENT

2. Officer-in-Charge, Police station, Katana.

COMPLAINANT-RESPONDENT Mutukuda Arachchige Janaka Nishantha Muthukuda No. 290, Pata Watta State, Akaragama.

ACCUSED-RESPONDENT AND NOW Jayasooriya Arachchige Dona Mary Josephine Calista No. 478, Kongodamulla, Katana.

REGISTERED OWNER-PETITIONER-

APPELLANT Vs.

1. Hon. Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12.

RESPONDENT-RESPONDENT

2. Officer-in-Charge, Police station, Katana.

COMPLAINANT-RESPONDENT-

RESPONDENT Mutukuda Arachchige Janaka Nishantha Muthukuda No. 290, Pata Watta State, Akaragama.

ACCUSED-RESPONDENT-RESPONDENT Before : Sampath B. Abayakoon, J.

: P. Kumararatnam, J.

Counsel : Buddhika Jayakody for the Appellant : Kanishka Rajakaruna, S.C. for the Respondent Argued on : 14-07-2023 Written Submissions : 02-05-2023 (By the Registered Owner-Petitioner)

Decided on : 12-10-2023 Sampath B. Abayakoon, J.

This is an appeal preferred by the registered owner-petitioner-appellant (hereinafter referred to as the appellant) on the basis of being aggrieved by the order made by the learned High Court Judge of Negombo on 09-09-2022, wherein the revision application preferred by her invoking the revisionary jurisdiction of the High Court was dismissed.

The appellant is the registered owner of the vehicle number 48-0440, the subject matter of this appeal.

One Nishantha Muthukuda who was the driver of the said vehicle was charged before the Magistrate’s Court of Negombo for having committed an offence in terms of the Forest Ordinance by transporting sawn timber for a value of Rs.

86777.55/- on or about 29-05-2019.

When the charge was read over to the accused, the accused had unconditionally pleaded guilty to the charge, although the charge had not specified what type of timber that had been transported to indicate whether it was prohibited to be transported without a valid permit.

Accordingly, the learned Magistrate of Negombo has sentenced the accused and has called upon the registered owner of the vehicle to show cause as to why the vehicle involved should not be confiscated.

The registered owner namely, Jayasooriya Arachchige Dona Mary Josephine Calista has given evidence at the inquiry held in that regard, and has stated that she purchased this lorry about 5 years ago and it was her husband who used the lorry for transportation of cement blocks and other material. It had been her evidence that since her husband fell ill and could not drive the vehicle anymore, she handed over the vehicle to Janaka Nishantha who was the accused in this case with the intention of earning a living out of the vehicle.

She has stated that the said Janaka Nishantha used to give Rs. 25000/- to 30000/- out of the earnings from the vehicle and the vehicle was under his custody for the purposes of hiring. According to her, she used to get an income weekly and the said Nishantha used to bring the vehicle once a week on Saturdays and pay her money from the earnings before taking it back on Sundays.

She has maintained the position that she, her husband and her brothers used to be vigilant about the vehicle and used to instruct the driver how he should utilize the vehicle for hiring purposes. The driver has been using the vehicle