Rashmika Chandramal Kumaranayake vs The Officer-in-Charge Police Narcotics Bureau Colombo-01 – CA BAIL/0199/23-2023

In the case between the Officer-in-Charge, Police Narcotics Bureau, Colombo-01 (with the Attorney General) and Rashmika Chandramal Kumaranayake, the court addressed the issue of whether prolonged pre-trial detention without commencement of trial constitutes “exceptional circumstances” justifying bail under Section 83(2) of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Act (as amended). It was determined that an excessive and oppressive delay—exceeding three and a half years in remand custody without a trial—constitutes exceptional circumstances under the law. The holding reaffirmed the principle that the presumption of innocence and the right to liberty cannot be negated by procedural delays, even in the context of serious drug offences. Reliance was placed on both domestic precedent and internat