Henpitage Dharma Sri Pushpakumara vs The Attorney General – 398/2019-2023

Brief
In The Attorney General v. Henpitage Dharma Sri Pushpakumara, the central issue concerned whether the prosecution sufficiently established the continuous chain of custody for drug evidence (heroin and morphine), an essential requirement for proving possession and trafficking charges. The proceedings examined whether discrepancies in handling and production markings undermined the necessary evidentiary link from seizure to analysis. The findings established that inconsistencies and gaps in the chain of evidence prevented the prosecution from proving the case beyond reasonable doubt, resulting in the conviction and sentence being set aside. Precedents, including Perera v Attorney General and Witharana Doli Nona v. The Republic of Sri Lanka, were relied upon to reaffirm the principle th