Kanewala Arachchilage Jeewanie vs The Officer-in-Charge, Police Station Meegahawatte and The Attorney General – CA BAIL/0069/2023-2023

In the case between the Petitioner (the suspect in Mahara Magistrate Court Case No. B 2665/20) and the Officer-in-Charge of Meegahawatte Police Station together with the Attorney General’s Department, Colombo-12, the court addressed the issue of whether bail should be granted under the amended Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance in circumstances involving the alleged possession and packaging of a commercial quantity of Heroin. It was determined that the existence of serious charges, risk of absconding, and the evidence at hand did not create “exceptional circumstances” justifying the grant of bail, notwithstanding arguments presented regarding family hardship and procedural delay. The court reaffirmed the principle that bail should not be granted in serious narcotics offenses abse