Warnakulasuriya Ivan Christy Fernando alias Bappa vs. Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC 0209/2023-2025

In the matter of Warnakulasuriya Ivan Christy Fernando alias Bappa and Hon. Attorney General, the court addressed the issue of the credibility and consistency of prosecutorial testimony in a rape case, failure to call a crucial witness, and the assessment of contradictory evidence. The court held that the appellant’s conviction and sentence were unsafe due to significant inconsistencies in the prosecutrix’s testimony, conflicting medical evidence, and the prosecution’s failure to examine a vital witness. This decision reaffirmed the principle that a conviction cannot rest on unreliable or uncorroborated evidence, especially when material witnesses are not called. This case relied on principles of evidence evaluation and the presumption under Section 114(f) of the Evidence Ordinance, emphas