Hettiarachchige Sanjeewa Kumara alias Sampath vs. Hon. Attorney General – CA 297/2015-2024

In the case between Hettiarachchige Sanjeewa Kumara alias Sampath (Appellant) and the Hon. Attorney General (Respondent), the court addressed whether a conviction for possession and trafficking of heroin could be sustained based solely on the uncorroborated evidence of a single police witness. It was held that a conviction based exclusively on such evidence, without fair evaluation of the defense’s case and in the presence of procedural irregularities, amounted to a miscarriage of justice. This decision reaffirmed the principle that criminal convictions require compelling, corroborative, and fairly assessed evidence, referencing established precedents including The King vs Navasivayam and Rajapaksha Pathirage Justin Rajapaksha VS Prasanna Rathnayake & Others. The findings emphasized that u