Hennayaka Mudiyanselage Darmadasa alias Lal vs Hon. Attorney General – CA 328/2007-2016

In the case between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka / Attorney General and Hennayaka Mudiyanselage Darmadasa alias Lal, the court addressed the issue of whether the conviction and resulting death sentence for murder, based on identification evidence from a single eyewitness, could be safely upheld. It was held that multiple procedural flaws, including inconsistencies and lack of corroboration in the identification process, rendered the conviction unsafe. The principle reaffirmed was that convictions cannot rest solely on questionable identification evidence without sufficient procedural safeguards. The decision emphasized established precedents and the necessity of reliable evidence in upholding criminal convictions, resulting in the acquittal of the accused.

Vijith K. Mala