Sujeewa Fernando vs. The Officer-in-Charge, Police Station Mount Lavinia and The Attorney General – CA BAIL/0016/23-2023

In the case between Sujeewa Fernando (petitioner, on behalf of the suspect) and The Officer-in-Charge, Mount Lavinia Police Station, along with the Attorney General’s Department and associated state agencies, the court addressed the legality of prolonged remand custody under the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. The principal issue concerned whether more than three years of detention without charges qualified as “exceptional circumstances” sufficient for granting bail. It was determined that the extraordinary length of custody, absence of formal charges, and investigative delays established such circumstances. Emphasis was placed on the maxim that “justice delayed is justice denied.” The interpretation favored the conditional grant of bail, reaffirming that, even in cases invol