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Quashing of the Convictions In the Padmini Kularatne Murder in 1967

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  Quashing of the Convictions In the Padmini Kularatne Murder in 1967   Background In the 1950s, Dr. D. G. De S. Kularatne was a well-known & popular Medical Practitioner in the Fort of Galle . He lived in a palatial mansion, known as "Samudra Siri", at the far end of the Fort.  He was often a spectator at cricket and football matches in which Mahinda College was a participant. He appeared to be a very rich man and it was known that he was from a very distinguished family - he was a nephew of the great educationist P. De S Kularatne  He was an active member of the Galle YMBA. He enjoyed a good reputation.   "Samudra Siri"   Padmini Kularatne  In April 1967, a few days before the New Year, the news spread that Padmini, the wife of Dr. D. G. De S Kularatne had died of poisoning, and that even at that early stage, Dr. Kularatne was a suspect. Police investigations were ongoing. Sordid details of the happenings in the Kularatne household...
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The Bandaranaike Assassination - Facts, Speculations about the Convicts & Doubts

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The Bandaranaike Assassination - Facts, Speculations about the Convicts & Doubts Introduction   I was among a group of teachers from St. Aloysius College, Galle,  who stood in a queue for over six hours, in sun & rain, to pay our respects to the late Prime Minister, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, when the remains were lying in state at Horagolla in September, 1959. The mood in the country was one of extreme sadness. Many in the queue around us strongly desired that the perpetrators should receive the maximum punishment. Death Penalty At the time of the assassination the death penalty was suspended on the initiative of PM Bandaranaike himself  (JRJ did the same later) .  A Commission of Inquiry on Capital Punishment was thereafter appointed in 1958 with Australian Professor of Law , Norwal Morris as Chairman & Professor T. Nadarajah & Sir Edwin Wijeyaratne as members. In 1959 just before the assassination, Sessional paper XIV of 1959 was published wher...
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A Rare Quashing of a Conviction for Murder by the Privy Council in 1936

This case originated in the 1930s. It is included here 1) because I first heard about it in the mid 1960s at Welikade Prison on the manner in which the Privy Council looked at some cases referred to it from Ceylon. The judgment was not available then, and became available long afterwards with the advent of the Internet 2) because it was the first case of murder using chloroform in Ceylon and has some similarity to the Kularatne case of the 1960s, where arsenic was used for the first time. and both accused were acquitted in appeal. A Rare Quashing of a Conviction for Murder by the Privy Council in 1936 The case in which Stephen Christopher Seneviratne , a Cambridge graduate & a non  practicing barrister  was named as the suspect in the murder of his wife, Lilian Rosalin de Alwis , daughter of Daniel Albert de Alwis and Grace Rosalin Dias Bandaranaike , & sister of Leo de Alwis , a son-in-law of Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, , attracted much attention in 1933, due...
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