Wickramaarachchige Gamini Thilakasiri et al. v. Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC/23-25/2020-2023

In Wickramaarachchige Gamini Thilakasiri, Wickramaarachcige Neil Chandika, and Dhammika Nilantha Walakuluarachchi (Accused-Appellants) v. Attorney General (Respondent), the court addressed the issue of whether circumstantial evidence—particularly the “last seen theory,” eyewitness identification, and forensic findings—established the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt in a case of murder. It was held that the combination of direct and circumstantial evidence, together with the inability of the accused to provide satisfactory explanations in their dock statements, justified the affirmation of conviction. The principle was reaffirmed that well-corroborated circumstantial evidence, taken cumulatively, is sufficient to sustain a conviction if it excludes every reasonable hypothesis e