Gamage Sumithra vs Officer-In-Charge Police Station, Horana – CA PHC APN 97/2013-2014

In Gamage Sumithra (on behalf of Eswara Wellappili Arachchige Neil Wasantha) v. Officer-In-Charge, Police Station, Horana, and The Hon. Attorney General, the court examined whether the almost six-year remand of the suspect without indictment or commencement of trial amounted to exceptional circumstances warranting the grant of bail. The court held that such undue and unexplained delay constituted an exceptional circumstance justifying bail, thereby reaffirming the principle that prolonged pre-indictment detention without trial, when not satisfactorily explained, can warrant judicial intervention in bail proceedings. Reliance was placed on the chronology of the case, evidence of delay, and absence of contestation by the State at the appellate stage, underscoring the importance of expeditiou