IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA In the matter of an application for Bail as under and in terms of Section 83(2) of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance of 17 of 1929 as amended by section 04 of the Act No.41 of 2022.

Court of Appeal Bail Application: The Officer-in-Charge CA Bail/0444/24 Police Narcotics Bureau, Colombo-01. Complainant MC Colombo Vs.

No. B 88240/3/2023 Aravinth Kathirgamanathan

3rd Suspect AND NOW BETWEEN Aravinth Kathirgamanathan No. 35/5/6, Boswell Residence, Boswell Place, Wellawatta.

(Presently in remand)

3^rd Suspect-Petitioner Vs.

1. The Attorney General Attorney General’s Department Colombo-12.

2. The Officer-in-Charge Police narcotics Bureau, Colombo-01. Respondents BEFORE : P. Kumararatnam, J.

R.P.Hettiarachchi, J.

COUNSEL : Sanjith Senanayake for the Petitioner.

Tharaka Kodagoda, SC for the Respondents.

ARGUED ON : 22/05/2025.

DECIDED ON : 1 7 /06/2025.

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ORDER

P.Kumararatnam,J.

The Petitioner is the 3^rd Suspect named in the B Report filed in the Magistrate Court of Colombo case bearing No. B 88240/03/2023.The Petitioner has filed this bail application under Section 83(2) of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act No. 41 of

2022.

According to the B report filed by the police, Initially, upon an information the police had arrested two persons who were named as the 1^st and 2^nd Suspects in this case. Acting on the information provided by the 1^st Suspect, the Petitioner was arrested on 14.03.2023 and recovered some substance suspected to be Methamphetamine from left side trouser pocket of the Petitioner. The substance weighted about 50 grams.

The Petitioner was produced in the Magistrate Court of Colombo under Section 54A (b) and (d) of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance as amended by Act No. 13 of 1984.Further, a detention order under Section 83(3) of the said Act was obtained for further investigation.

The Petitioner has pleaded following exceptional circumstances in support of her Bail Application.

1. The Petitioner states that he has no previous conviction or pending case of the same nature.

2. The raid on the Petitioner is false, as the Petitioner was consuming alcohol when the police officer entered the Petitioner’s house.

3. Although the Petitioner has been in custody for almost 1 year and 7 months since the date of his arrest, the indictment has not been served to the Petitioner even though it has been almost 1 year and 6 months since the government analysis report was received.

4. Since the indictment has not been served and the trial has not commenced, it is imperative to consider the fact that it will take a long duration of time for the trial to be concluded, and the Petition will languish in remand indefinitely.

5. The Petitioner respectfully states that the wife of the Petitioner has been suffering from Epilepsy for a long period of time, and she finds it challenging to survive alone by herself without the support of the Petitioner when the symptoms of the said illness appear in day-to-day life at spontaneous occasions that could end with grave danger to petitioner’s wife.

6. The Petitioner further states that her wife, apart from suffering from epilepsy, she is also a psychiatric patient who has been under treatment for depression for a long duration of time, she is continuously treated at the university psychiatric unit of the National Hospital. She is a person who has suicidal thoughts and thoughts of endangering her life.

7. The Petitioner respectfully states that the Petitioner is the father of her 11-year-old daughter.

8. The Petitioner respectfully states that his daughter is diagnosed of Pulmonary Stenosis, which falls into the category of heart diseases that involves the narrowing of the pulmonary valve, which controls the flow of blood from the heart’s right ventricle into the pulmonary artery towards lungs, and, she is suffering from Epilepsy.

9. The Petitioner is a 42-year-old person, and he is a sal