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Chief Magistrate rejects an application to release five elephants back to claimants
October 23, 2021
A motion filed by CID requesting to release five elephants back to their original claimants on Attorney General's recommendations was today rejected by the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court.
The case was taken up through a motion to express Attorney General's recommendation to hand over 5 elephants registered under 223, 230, 331, 346 and 148 to their so-called previous owners.
Although the Attorney General did not appear in court on this occasion, the CID submitted a document that contains recommendations and suggestions made by the Attorney General.
However, Chief Magistrate Buddhika C. Ragaladeclared that suggestions would not be accepted by the Magistrate's Court and requested the CID to proceed with any specific requests which they may have for judgment, on which occasion the Magistrate was requested to conclude the proceedings regarding the captured elephants and hand them back over to their “previous owners".
Senior Counsel Ravindranath Dabare, the Chairman of the Center for Environmental Justice objected to the request, citing “Elephants” are public property and therefore they should not be handed over to back their captivators, the so-called "original custodians".
After considering all the facts, the court ordered the case to be called back on December 3.
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