Marasinghe Siriwardenalage Nilantha vs The Attorney General – CA HCC/238/2020-2024

The case between Marasinghe Siriwardenalage Nilantha Kumara (Appellant) and the Attorney General’s Department (Respondent) addressed the issue of the sufficiency and credibility of eyewitness testimony in a murder prosecution. It was held that the minor discrepancies or omissions in the eyewitness (PW2)’s evidence did not undermine the prosecution’s case when considering the overall reliability and corroboration of key facts. The judgment reaffirmed the principle that criminal convictions can rest on single eyewitness testimony if it is found credible and consistent with other evidence. Statutory and common law precedents were relied upon to emphasize that minor inconsistencies do not necessarily create reasonable doubt, thereby clarifying the standard for the evaluation of eyewitness evid