Kodagodage Damayanthi Weerawansha vs. Hon. Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Officer-in-charge Criminal Investigation Division Police Station Panadura South and Pradeep Nishantha Kumara – CA PHC/APN/69/2021-2021

In Kodagodage Damayanthi Weerawansha (Petitioner, on behalf of Pradeep Nishantha Kumara) v. Hon. Attorney General & Ors., the court addressed the issue of whether bail should be granted to an accused-respondent charged with threatening a prosecution witness under Section 10(1)(a) of the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act, No. 4 of 2015, given that such offences are non-bailable except under “exceptional circumstances.” The court determined that the prolonged, unexplained delay of over 26 months in filing the indictment, alongside the prior acquittal in the substantive case and absence of due progression of proceedings, constituted “exceptional circumstances” warranting the grant of bail. This holding underscores the principle that inordinate and unjustified