Lukshman vs. Republic of Sri Lanka – sllr 2010 volume 2 page 152

In the case between Lukshman (Accused/Appellant) and the Republic of Sri Lanka, the court addressed the issue of the admissibility and probative value of a dying declaration in a murder prosecution. It was held that the absence of the physical dying declaration document did not prevent reliance on oral testimony corroborating the declaration, and that the silence of the accused following the prosecution’s case did not undermine the presumption of innocence. The legal reasoning reaffirmed the principle that authenticity, admissibility, and evidentiary weight of dying declarations are to be assessed in criminal trials, following relevant statutes governing evidence and criminal procedure. The decision reinforced that corroborated oral evidence is sufficient for conviction when the proper leg