Somi Ranasinghe vs Hon. Attorney General – SC APPEAL NO 14/2015-2025

In the case between the Somi Ranasinghe and Hon. Attorney General, the court addressed the sufficiency and credibility of the eyewitness evidence supporting convictions for murder, as well as the legal standard for establishing common murderous intention among the accused. The findings established that the testimony of the eyewitness, corroborated by forensic and medical evidence, was credible despite minor inconsistencies. The court held that the acts of the accused demonstrated the requisite common intention, whether pre-arranged or formed contemporaneously. Convictions and sentences, including the death penalty, were affirmed, with the principle reaffirmed that minor omissions in testimony do not negate the sufficiency of evidence or the formation of common intention under criminal law.