Weerawairodi Mudiyanselage Premawathi vs. Officer-in-Charge, Police Narcotics Bureau, Colombo-01 and others – CA PHC APN/0164/2022-2023

In the case between Premawathi (Petitioner, mother of the suspect) and the High Court of Colombo, Police Narcotics Bureau, and the Attorney General, the court addressed whether exceptional circumstances existed to revise the High Court’s earlier refusal of bail for the suspect. The application focused on prolonged remand, delays in filing the indictment, and whether these factors infringed upon fundamental rights and the presumption of innocence. It was held that the prosecution’s delay and extended remand constituted exceptional circumstances justifying the grant of bail. The decision reaffirmed the principle that exceptional circumstances—in particular, prosecutorial delay and the right to liberty—may warrant bail notwithstanding statutory restrictions. This was grounded in established c