The State vs Devunderage Nihal – SC APPEAL :154/10-2011

In the case between The State & the Attorney General’s Department and Devunderage Nihal, the court addressed the sufficiency of evidence in drug-related offences, specifically whether reliance on the testimony of a single main police witness in a heroin possession case is legally adequate without corroboration. It was held that there is no absolute legal requirement for corroboration in such prosecutions, reaffirming that the conviction may rest upon a sole credible witness if the testimony is reliable. This principle was grounded in a review of local and comparative precedents, emphasizing prosecutorial discretion and the sufficiency of credible uncorroborated testimony in cases involving law enforcement evidence. The decision overturned the Court of Appeal’s setting aside of the convicti