Udagedara Hewaga Justin alias Kumarasinghe v The Attorney General of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka – CA 122/2015-2017

In the case between the Attorney General of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Udagedara Hewaga Justin alias Kumarasinghe, the court addressed the issue of whether a conviction for double murder could be sustained solely on circumstantial evidence. It was determined that the conviction was unsafe due to the absence of exclusive evidence linking the accused-appellant to the murders and the failure to exclude the involvement of third parties. The principle reaffirmed was that in cases based on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish a complete chain of circumstances that excludes all reasonable hypotheses except the guilt of the accused. Reference was made to leading Sri Lankan and comparative jurisprudence on the standard required for such convictions, unders