Rathnayake Mudiyanselage Muthubanda vs. Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC 05/2020-2023

In the case between The Hon. Attorney General (representing the State/Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12) and Rathnayake Mudiyanselage Muthubanda, the court addressed whether erroneous or insufficient jury instructions concerning contradictory evidence, hearsay, the weight of defense evidence, and the plea of insanity warranted appellate intervention in a conviction for murder, grievous hurt, and hurt. It was determined that there had been no misdirection or non-direction in the original jury instructions and that the defense of insanity was unsupported by reliable evidence, as it was not proven on a balance of probabilities that the accused was of unsound mind at the relevant time. The legal principle reaffirmed is that the defense of insanity requires clear evidence directly relat