Disanayake Mudiyanselage Jayantha Bandara vs Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC 98/23-2025

In the case between the Hon. Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12 (Complainant/Respondent) and Disanayake Mudiyanselage Jayantha Bandara (Accused-Appellant), the court addressed the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence in establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt in a charge of murder. The holding determined that the circumstantial evidence presented did not exclude the possibility of innocence or third-party involvement, necessitating acquittal. The decision reaffirmed the principle that for a conviction based on circumstantial evidence, the established facts must be consistent only with the accused’s guilt and inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Reliance was placed on judicial precedents regarding the assessment of circumstantial evidence,