Selvaraj Ranjith Kumara vs Hon. Attorney General – CA/HCC/287/2019-2024

In the case between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Respondent) and Selvaraj Ranjith Kumara (Accused-Appellant), the court addressed the issue of whether evidentiary inconsistencies in the prosecution case—specifically with respect to witness testimonies and the chain of custody for heroin—gave rise to a reasonable doubt. It was determined that minor inconsistencies in witness accounts and the absence of one link in the chain of custody did not undermine the reliability of the prosecution’s evidence, nor did the contents of the accused’s dock statement provide sufficient doubt regarding possession and trafficking. The holding reaffirmed the principle that a criminal case may be proved beyond reasonable doubt even in the presence of minor evidentiary gaps, provided the subst