Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Manjula Dissanayake Vs. Hon. Attorney General, Officer in Charge Divisional Crime Investigation Unit – CA 108/21-2021

In the case between Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Indika Sanjeewani (petitioner/applicant on behalf of the suspect) and the Officer in Charge, Divisional Crime Investigation Unit, Badulla, and the Attorney General, the court addressed whether bail should be granted to a suspect charged under the Offences Against Public Property Act No.12 of 1982 for the theft of an automatic weapon, given the absence of a certificate by a Gazetted Officer regarding the value of the property. It was held that, due to the lack of such certification, the matter did not fall under the special bail regime of the Act and the usual requirement for “exceptional circumstances” to grant bail did not apply. The principle reaffirmed is that compliance with statutory requirements, particularly the necessity of a certificat