The Supreme Court has stayed the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court from hearing the case regarding the possession of several unregistered elephants and taken the case file into its custody.
The Supreme Court gave the order after considering submissions made by Sanjeewa Jayawardena, PC alleging that requests were being made to the magistrate’s court to order the release of the elephants in the court’s custody back to their owners, ignoring the orders given by both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal regarding the case.
He pointed out that a case was currently pending before the Court of Appeal regarding the case before the magistrate’s court while a fundamental rights petition on the matter was being considered before the Supreme Court.
While a court order has been issued suspending the Cabinet decision to hand the elephants back to their owners, the chief magistrate’s court had ordered the release of the elephants and has charged the Director General of Wildlife Conservation with contempt for failing to release the elephants, Jayawardena, PC told the court. He asserted that the magistrate has completely disregarded the orders of higher courts.
Accordingly, the bench comprising Justices Preethi Padman Surasena and Arjuna Obeyesekere sent for the registrar of the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court to come with the case file to the Supreme Court and ordered the chief magistrate not to take any further action or issue any orders regarding the case.
The petition will be taken up again on November 18. Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena, PC appeared for the Attorney General.
(By Ranjith Padmasiri)
You can share this post!
Content
A Thai woman walking topless in Arugam Bay town has been arrested by the Police.
The UK government has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries which allows for more garments manufactured in Sri Lanka to enter the UK tariff-free.
The Cabinet has approved a proposal for Sri Lankans overseas to apply for their passports through an online system via the Lankan diplomatic missions.
Villagers in Nirmalapura, Daluwa, Norochcholai today staged a protest over an incident where a group of Navy officials and sailors had assaulted a resident in the area over night, Police said.
Leave Comments