Ruling pending on unlawful retention of wild elephants by civilians

By T. Farook Thajudeen

The Colombo Chief Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala yesterday chose to reserve his decision on whether to release five wild elephants, with regard to the cases filed against the purported owners for allegedly retaining wild elephants without a valid license.

When the matter came up in court, the CID had pleaded that the elephants be released to their owners, as they said no evidence had come to light that the suspects had committed an offence.

At this stage, Counsel Ajith Pathirana, appearing on behalf of the suspects, moved to release the elephants to its owners.

Senior Counsel Ravindranath Dabare, appearing on behalf of the aggrieved party, countered pointing out that at the onset of the investigations the CID had acted in a different way and now they were motivated in some other manner. He also emphasised that if there was no valid license for the purported owners to retain the elephants, the elephants should be handed over to the Wildlife Department – not back to the owners.

At this stage, the Magistrate questioned the CID as to why they had so suddenly changed their stance. The CID told the Magistrate that the Attorney General had informed the CID that there was no sufficient proof to charge the suspects.