Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal has granted bail under strict conditions to a man who had been held on remand for nearly 15 years under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) without his trial being concluded.
The court ruled that such prolonged detention without trial constituted an "exceptional circumstance" sufficient to justify granting bail.
The ruling was delivered by a bench comprising Justices Pradeep Hettiarachchi and P. Kumararatnam, overturning an earlier order of the Colombo High Court that had refused bail to the third accused in the long-running terrorism case, Thambaiya Prakash alias Dhanush.
The accused was arrested in August 2009 and was indicted in September 2012 on 230 charges under the PTA and Emergency Regulations. The prosecution has listed 106 witnesses in the case.
The Court of Appeal ordered his release on strict bail conditions, including a cash bail of Rs. 200,000, four sureties of Rs. 5 million each, reporting to the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division every two weeks, and surrendering his passport to the court.
The court further observed that the 2022 amendment introducing Section 15B to the PTA empowers courts to grant bail under exceptional circumstances, and noted that the High Court had failed to properly consider the legislative intent of the amendment. It also highlighted the significant impact the prolonged detention had on the accused's family.
