The State vs. Meegahapola Arachchige Wasantha Alias Upali et al. – CA-HCC-373-375/2017-2023

In Attorney General v. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Accused-Appellants, the court addressed whether the evidence supported convictions for murder and the formation of an unlawful assembly. It was held that inconsistencies and lack of corroboration in witness testimony, along with failure to establish a direct causal nexus between individual acts and the death, did not support the charge of murder for any accused. The holding reaffirmed that, in criminal law, clear evidence of individual participation and mens rea is required to sustain convictions for murder and unlawful assembly. This decision relied on precedents such as Kumara de Silva, Jagathsena, Queen v. Vincent Fernando, and Piyathilaka and 2 Others, underscoring that criminal liability must be substantiated by direct links between actions and