Unga Kammanthige Sanath Silva vs. Hon. Attorney General – HCC 135/18-2023

In the case between The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Complainant) and Unga Kammanthige Sanath Silva (Accused-Appellant), the court addressed whether the prosecution’s evidence—particularly the credibility of the main police witness (PW1) and consistency among prosecution accounts—was sufficient to uphold a conviction for possession and trafficking of heroin. The proceedings analyzed significant inconsistencies in witness testimonies, procedural discrepancies concerning the arrest timeline, and chain of custody for the seized narcotics. It was held that the conviction was unsafe due to unreliable and contradictory evidence, resulting in the conviction and sentence being overturned. The principle established was that convictions must not rest on improbable or inadequately corr