Wannakuwaththa Waduge Miyoni Fernando vs. Madiha Arachchige Sampath Athula Gunawardena – CA PHC/APN/14/2022-2022

In the case between Madiha Arachchige Sampath Athula Gunawardena (petitioner) and the State (Attorney General’s Department, Officer in Charge—Police Station Mount Lavinia, and related authorities), the court addressed whether the omission in the police report of the specific location from where heroin was recovered amounts to an “exceptional circumstance” warranting bail under the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act. It was held that the failure to state the exact place of recovery constituted an exceptional circumstance justifying the grant of bail, reaffirming the principle that strict statutory requirements and procedural fairness must be observed in drug-related offences. The decision relied upon relevant statutory provisions and case law interpreting “exceptional circum