Ekanayake Mudiyanselage Hemantha Ekanayake vs. The Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC/0142/2015-2022

In Ekanayake Mudiyanselage Hemantha Ekanayake v. The Hon. Attorney General, the court addressed whether the prosecution established the accused’s murderous intention under Section 296 of the Penal Code, whether the presumption of innocence was reversed, and the sufficiency of evidence in upholding a conviction for homicide. The court upheld the conviction, determining that evidence demonstrated malice aforethought and that the trial judge properly assessed the burden of proof and the totality of evidence. This decision reaffirmed that convictions must rest on credible and consistent witness and medical testimony, and that appellate intervention is unwarranted absent misapplication of legal standards or disregard of material evidence.

P. Kumararatnam J. — It was determined that factual ba