Mahasarukkalige Chandani vs Attorney General – CA 213/2009-2019

In the case between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (represented by the Attorney General) and Mahasarukkalige Chandani, the court addressed the evidentiary sufficiency concerning the maintenance of the production’s chain of custody in a prosecution for possession of heroin under section 54A(d) of the Poisons Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. It was held that the prosecution failed to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, the safe and untampered “inward journey” of the seized heroin, owing to material discrepancies in police procedure and inconsistencies in witness testimony regarding the handling and transfer of critical evidence. The legal principle reaffirmed was that, in drug-related offenses, unbroken and substantiated chain of custody is essential to sustain a conviction.