Ramanayakage Chaminda Kumara vs The Hon. Attorney General – CA HCC/0178/2015-2023

In the case between Ramanayakage Chaminda Kumara (Appellant) and the Attorney General’s Department (Respondent), the court addressed the issue of whether the charges relating to unlawful assembly, robbery, and associated offenses were established beyond reasonable doubt against the Appellant. The court held that the prosecution failed to sufficiently prove the existence of an unlawful assembly and the identification of the stolen property, resulting in the acquittal of the Appellant. The principle reaffirmed is that the benefit of doubt must be applied when inconsistencies or insufficiencies arise in the prosecution’s evidence. This decision relied on the assessment of probability in criminal trials and relevant precedents, emphasizing that convictions must only follow if the evidence pres