Gampala Waduge Sujith Kumara Fonseka vs Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC/240/19-2021

In the case between The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Hon. Attorney General) and Gampala Waduge Sujith Kumara Fonseka, Gampala Waduge Dinesh Pradeep Kumara Fonseka, and Weeruhennadige Priyantha Fernando Alias Koiyya, the court addressed the issue of whether convictions for unlawful assembly and murder were sustainable when only three of the accused were convicted, contrary to the legal requirement for at least five persons to constitute an unlawful assembly under Section 138 of the Penal Code. The court held that the convictions could not stand, reaffirming the principle that a minimum of five members is essential to establish an unlawful assembly, and that convictions cannot rest solely on the unreliable evidence of a single eyewitness whose testimony is inconsistent. This d