Dharmasiri vs. Republic of Sri Lanka – sllr 2010 volume 2 page 241

In the case between Dharmasiri and others and the Republic of Sri Lanka, the court addressed the issue of the extent to which an appellate court may review police Information Book statements when examining evidentiary omissions or contradictions, and the appellate court’s scope in re-evaluating trial judge determinations on witness credibility. The court held that such records may be perused only when contradictions or omissions were raised at the trial, and solely for verifying these specific discrepancies, not for a broader reassessment of credibility. It was established that the credibility of witnesses remains within the primary purview of the trial judge due to direct observation. The decision reaffirmed the principle that delayed witness statements should not be rejected if the delay