Galahitiyawe Gedera Sulochana Chaturangi Tharika Jayasinghe vs The Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Katugastota – CA Bail/0095/23-2023

In the case between Galahitiyawe Gedera Sulochana and Chaturangi Tharika Jayasinghe (applicants for bail on behalf of the suspect) and The Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Katugastota and the Attorney General’s Department, Colombo-12, the court addressed the issue of bail entitlement under Section 83 of the Amended Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Act (Act No.41 of 2022) and Article 138 of the Constitution. The court held that prolonged remand custody exceeding two years without the commencement of trial constituted exceptional circumstances justifying the grant of bail, notwithstanding the gravity of the drug trafficking charge involving a significant quantity of heroin. The principle reaffirmed is that exceptional delay which infringes upon the fundamental right to a fair trial may w