Warnakulasuriya Weerakonda Arachchilage Sujali Maleesha Shiranki Fernando vs Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Wennappuwa – CA BAIL/0035/2021-2021

In the case between Warnakulasuriya Weerakonda Arachchilage Sujali Maleesha Shiranki Fernando (petitioner) and the Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Wennappuwa, and the Hon. Attorney General (respondents), the court addressed whether the suspect, R.A. Shanuka Madhushan alias Olumara, should be granted bail under Section 10(1)(a) of the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act No. 04 of 2015. The court held that prolonged remand custody exceeding two years and nine months without indictment or clear prospect of indictment constituted an exceptional circumstance, justifying the grant of bail. The principle reaffirmed is that the presumption of innocence and the statutory guarantee of speedy justice apply equally to suspects as to victims. Reliance was placed on sta