Herath Mudiyanselage Thushara alias Kalu Thushara vs Attorney General – CA HCC/359/2019-2025

The case between Herath Mudiyanselage Thushara alias Kalu Thushara and Attorney General addressed the issue of whether the prosecution’s evidence, particularly the testimony concerning the search and seizure of heroin, satisfied the requisite standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt in a drug trafficking prosecution. It was held that the evidence, notably the testimony of the arresting officer, fell short of establishing the accused’s guilt due to procedural improbabilities and lack of reliability. The principle reaffirmed is that, in criminal cases, conviction must rest on evidence that meets the threshold of probability in the prosecution’s narrative, and where credible doubt subsists, acquittal must follow. This decision relied on the evaluation of the credibility of witness testimon