Ratnayake Liyanarachchilage Piyaratne vs. Hon. Attorney General – CA 203/2007-2007

In Ratnayake Liyanarachchilage Piyaratne v. Hon. Attorney General of Sri Lanka, the court addressed the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence required to uphold a conviction for murder, the legal standards governing the admissibility of evidence under Section 27 of the Evidence Ordinance, and the exclusion of third-party involvement. It was held that the unchallenged circumstantial evidence, including the recovery of stolen jewellery from the accused and the discovery of the alleged murder weapon following the accused’s statement, was sufficient to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The principle reaffirmed was that when circumstantial evidence is cohesive and the accused fails to provide a plausible explanation for possession of stolen property soon after a murder, adverse inferenc