Supreme Court Acquits Sri Lankan National in UAPA Case Due to Mistaken Identity

The Supreme Court acquitted a Sri Lankan national wrongfully convicted under the UAPA, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish his identity as an absconding LTTE-linked accused named "Sri."

The Bench noted that the appellant, Ranjan, had lived openly as a registered refugee in Trichy since 2012.

The Court found that prosecution witnesses only introduced the name "Ranjan" after his 2021 arrest, creating a suspect "material improvement" over their earlier silence.

Furthermore, the investigating agency's complete failure to conduct a Test Identification Parade struck at the root of the case, rendering the identification entirely unreliable.

[Sri v. State Rep. by the Inspector of Police, Q Branch, Ramanathpuram, Tamil Nadu]