Kumara vs. Attorney General – sllr 2021 volume 1 page 239

Brief
In Kumara (Appellant) versus Attorney General, the court addressed whether errors in fact and law in the High Court judgment—specifically misdirection on evidentiary issues and improper shifting of the burden of proof—required the quashing of the conviction and the consideration of a retrial. It was held that the conviction for heroin trafficking and possession could not stand due to serious flaws in the trial court’s reasoning and evaluation of the prosecution’s evidence. Reaffirming the principle that material irregularities and misapplication of legal standards mandate appellate intervention, the decision relied on precedents including L.C. Fernando v. Republic of Sri Lanka and Au Pui-Kuen v. Attorney General of Hong Kong, and clarified that in light of compelling deficiencies in