Bopiti Kankanamalage Ruchini Krishanthi vs. The Officer-in-Charge, Police Station Kadawatha – B 1964/20-2023

In the case between Bopiti Kankanamalage Ruchini Krishanthi (petitioner, on behalf of the suspect Ranawaka Liyanage Udayangani Pushpakumari) and the Officer-in-Charge, Kadawatha Police Station, and the Attorney General’s Department, the court addressed the issue of bail under the amended Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Act in the context of exceptional circumstances. The holding determined that the prolonged pre-indictment remand of the suspect, combined with excessive delay by authorities and the resulting infringement of fundamental rights, constituted exceptional grounds justifying the grant of bail even where a substantial quantity of heroin (41.8 grams) was detected. The court reaffirmed the principle that the presumption of innocence and the right to liberty cannot be unduly fette