Hengodage Sanjeewa Premakumara Silva vs The Hon. Attorney General – CA BAIL/03/2020-2020

In the case between Hengodage Sanjeewa Premakumara Silva (Petitioner/2nd Suspect) and the Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Kaluthara North and the Hon. Attorney-General (Respondents), the court addressed whether the Petitioner was entitled to be released on bail under Section 10(1)(a) of the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act No. 04 of 2015, read with Article 138(2) of the Constitution. The main issue concerned the existence of “exceptional circumstances” as required under the statute for offenses involving threats and injuries to witnesses. The holding established that prolonged remand without the filing of an indictment, in the absence of demonstrable progress in prosecution, constitutes an exceptional circumstance warranting the grant of bail, subject t