The Attorney General vs Thaufik Mohammed Muas Mohammed – CA BAIL 0145/23-2023

In the case of Fathima Shazmin Muazz v. Attorney General, the court addressed the issue of whether the statutory threshold of “exceptional circumstances” under Section 83(2) of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment) Act No. 41 of 2022 was met to justify the grant of bail to the 15th accused, Thaufik Mohammed Muas Mohammed, alleged to be involved in serious drug trafficking. It was held that the circumstances advanced, including remand for over seven years and personal hardships, did not satisfy the statutory requirement of exceptionality. The legal principle reaffirmed is that extended pre-trial detention, in itself, does not automatically constitute an exceptional circumstance for bail in cases governed by the specific ordinance. The decision relied on precedents int