Kuda Singappulige Maslin Kanthi vs The Officer in Charge – CA BAL/0033/2023-2023

In the case between Kuda Singappulige Maslin Kanthi (Petitioner, seeking bail) and Karannagodage Wasantha Kumara Perera (Suspect, accused of possession and trafficking of heroin), with the Officer in Charge (Crime Division, Western Province Southern Range) and the Attorney General’s Department as respondents, the court addressed the issue of whether bail could be granted under section 83(2) of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act No. 41 of 2022 upon a claim of exceptional circumstances. It was held that the grounds advanced by the petitioner—namely, elapsed time since arrest, absence of indictment, and personal or familial conditions—were insufficient to establish exceptional circumstances warranting bail, particularly in light of the substantial quantity of heroin involv