Colombo, July 18 – The Court of Appeal has granted bail to a man who had remained in remand custody for nearly 15 years under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), ruling that such prolonged pre-trial detention amounted to an exceptional circumstance warranting his release.
The Court held that the accused had spent approximately 15 years in detention before his bail application, adding that he was only 26 years old when he was arrested and had spent the prime years of his youth behind bars while awaiting trial.
The judgement, delivered by Justice Pradeep Hettiarachchi with Justice P. Kumararatnam concurring, set aside an order of the Colombo High Court which had refused bail to the third accused, Thambiah Prakash alias Dhanush, in a long-pending terrorism case.
The accused was arrested in August 2009 and indicted in September 2012 under the PTA and Emergency Regulations. The indictment contains 230 charges, 115 under the PTA and a further 115 under the Emergency Regulations and lists 106 prosecution witnesses.
Accordingly, the Court granted bail subject to stringent conditions, including a cash bail of Rs. 200,000, four sureties each signing a bond of Rs. 5 million, fortnightly reporting to the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division at Police Headquarters, and the surrender of the accused’s passport. The Court warned that any breach of the bail conditions would result in the cancellation of bail.
The Court observed that although Parliament introduced Section 15B to the PTA through the 2022 amendments, empowering courts to grant bail in exceptional circumstances, the High Court had failed to properly consider the legislative purpose behind the amendment when refusing bail.
The judgement further observed that the accused’s daughter was only one year old at the time of his arrest and that his prolonged detention had deprived his family of his care and protection throughout that period.
Counsel Asthika Devendra with Aruna Madhusanka appeared for the accused. Deputy Solicitor General Anoopa De Silva appeared for the Attorney General.