D.A. Amarasiri Dissanayake vs The Attorney General – CA101/2011-2013

In the case between D.A. Amarasiri Dissanayake (Accused-Appellant) and The Attorney General (Respondent), the court addressed the issue of whether the conviction and imposition of the death sentence for the murder of Nishshanka Arachchige Senadheera could be sustained when based exclusively on circumstantial evidence. It was held that the evidence, including the accused-appellant’s possession of the deceased’s motor cycle, surrender to the police with a sword, and the failure to provide satisfactory explanations for the incriminating circumstances, formed an unbroken chain leading exclusively to the conclusion of guilt. The decision reaffirmed the legal principle that a conviction may be justified on circumstantial evidence if the proved facts are consistent only with the hypothesis of gui