D.A. Anura Priyantha Dasanayake v. Hon. Attorney General – CA 105/13-2016

In the case between D.A. Anura Priyantha Dasanayake (Appellant) and the Hon. Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12 (Respondent), the court addressed whether the confiscation of a vehicle (Tractor No. NCSD 6014) under Section 79(1) of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Act No. 13 of 1984 by the High Court of Moneragala was legally justified. It was determined that the Appellant had failed to discharge the burden of proving, on a balance of probabilities, that there was no knowledge or involvement in the illegal use of the vehicle for the transportation of cannabis. The principle reaffirmed is that a claimant must provide credible and satisfactory evidence of lack of knowledge and oversight to qualify for the release of a confiscated vehicle. Reliance was placed on