Thiruchelvam Nixon alias Ramesh et al. vs. The Attorney General – CA HCC/0302-306/2016-2022

In the case between the Attorney General and the accused appellants (including Wijekoon Mudiyanselage Gunawardana Wijekoon and others), the court addressed the reliability of eyewitness testimony and the sufficiency of evidence to support convictions for unlawful assembly and murder. It was determined that inconsistencies in the testimonies of key witnesses (PW-01 and PW-02), as well as the failure to call material witness PW-06, rendered the evidence insufficient to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt for the charges of unlawful assembly, murder, and murder with common intention. The findings established that only the 1st accused could be convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, based on his own admissions. The principle reaffirmed by the court emphasized that convicti