The Attorney General has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the judgment delivered by the Colombo High Court Trial-At-Bar to acquit five accused of multiple charges, including importing, possessing, and trafficking 196.98 kilograms of heroin.
The Attorney General is seeking an order to set aside the judgment of the High Court-at-Bar dated April 6, 2023, to acquit five accused of all charges.
In its judgment, the Colombo High Court Trial-At-Bar ordered to acquit five accused, Jayakody Arachchige Anura Chaminda Appuhamy, Thavarasa Sudakaran, Aglesa Pille Thavarasa, Yakdehi Arachchige Lasantha Priyalal Appuhamy, and Kandiyah Chandrakumar, from all charges on the basis of the failure of the prosecution to prove the charges against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt and contradictory evidence of the prosecution witnesses.
The Attorney General maintained that the net weight of heroin was found to be 196.986 kilograms, the purity of which was 77.711%, as confirmed by the Government Analyst in the course of the proceedings relevant to this appeal.
The Attorney General had filed indictments against five accused for jointly committing offenses punishable under Sections 54 A (c), 54 A (d), and 54 A (b) of the Poisons, Opium, and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.
Five accused were arrested with the suspected substance of narcotic drugs, taken into the custody of the Sri Lanka Navy along with the fishing trawler, and brought to the shore at the Naval Base in Trincomalee by the Sri Lanka Navy in 2019.
The Attorney General stated that the High Court-at-Bar erred in law by failing to come to specific findings on facts and law in relation to each and every ingredient of the offenses in the three counts against the accused.
The Attorney General maintained that the judgment of the High Court-at-Bar is contrary to the law and the weight of the evidence. The Attorney General further stated that the High Court-at-Bar misdirected itself in law by failing to identify the facts in issue, which were the ingredients of the offenses in each count.
In his appeal, the Attorney General further sought an order that each of the accused be committed to remand custody.
