Nallaperuma Thanthirige Danuka Roshan Vs. The Hon. Attorney General – CA 216/15-2017

In the case between The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Nallaperuma Thanthirige Danuka Roshan, the court addressed the safety and sustainability of a conviction and life sentence under the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance for possession and trafficking of 2.34 grams of heroin, where the conviction was based solely on the uncorroborated evidence of a single police witness. It was held that relying solely on such uncorroborated testimony, especially given evidentiary shortcomings—including the failure to produce relevant material evidence and an unexplained delay in processing exhibits—rendered the conviction unsafe. The principle reaffirmed was that convictions based exclusively on police testimony must be scrutinized with caution, particularly in the absence of c