Don Sydney Manikka Hettiarachchi vs Hon. Attorney General – CA/HCC/0003/20-2024

In the case between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Attorney General’s Department) and Don Sydney Manikka Hettiarachchi, the court addressed the sufficiency of evidence required to uphold a conviction for criminal misappropriation when the misappropriated sum is not fully established. The primary issues considered were whether partial misappropriation was adequate for conviction, the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence, and the calculation of the misappropriated amount for sentencing purposes. It was held that conviction may be maintained even when the entirety of the charged sum is not precisely proven, reaffirming the principle that exact specificity is unnecessary where dishonesty and wrongful gain are established beyond reasonable doubt. This decision relied on estab