Sagara Sampath Senaratne vs The Attorney General – CA 273/2009-2009

In the case between the Attorney General of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Sagara Sampath Senaratne, the court addressed whether a conviction for possession of 2.89 grams of heroin under Section 54A(d) of the Poisons Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance could be sustained based on the uncorroborated testimony of a single police officer, and if alleged procedural omissions—specifically, not calling additional police witnesses and not producing certain physical evidence—amounted to fatal defects. It was determined that corroboration is not a legal requirement where the police witness is credible and not an accomplice, and that the prosecution had, through admissions under Section 420 of the Criminal Procedure Code, sufficiently established the chain of custody and producti