Dehi Ange Gedara Nuradha Nuwanthi Disanayake vs. Officer-in-Charge, Vice-Prevention Unit, Police Station Matara – BAL/359/2023-2023

In the case between Dehi Ange Gedara Nuradha Nuwanthi Disanayake (on behalf of Thilina Nethmika Vimal Witharana) and the Officer-in-Charge, Vice-Prevention Unit, Police Station Matara, and the Hon. Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12, the court considered whether prolonged detention without formal indictment and the circumstances surrounding the alleged possession of heroin constituted “exceptional circumstances” justifying bail under Section 83 of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. The decision found that extended remand without filing charges, in context with the facts and the quantity of drugs as analyzed, warranted the granting of bail. This holding reaffirmed the principle that the presence of exceptional circumstances—such as undue delay and absence of indictment