Ranadeva Kumaranayake vs Officer in Charge Police Narcotic Bureau – CPA 98/21-2022

In Officer in Charge, Police Narcotic Bureau, Colombo 01 v. Rashmika Chandralal Kumaranayaka and others, the Court of Appeal addressed whether the High Court of Negombo’s denial of bail to the suspect, Rashmika Chandralal Kumaranayaka, should be revised. The Court held that the statutory requirement of demonstrating “exceptional circumstances” to grant bail under the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Act had not been satisfied. The principle reaffirmed is that bail in offences involving commercial quantities of heroin can be granted only where exceptional circumstances are clearly established. Reliance was placed on statutory thresholds and relevant case law defining what constitutes exceptional circumstances, as well as precedential standards governing remand periods and bail. The Court