(UTV|COLOMBO) – Attorney General (AG) Dappula De Livera has requested the Chief Justice (CJ) Jayantha Jayasuriya to appoint a 3-member Trial-at-Bar to hear the first elephant trafficking case in the legal history of Sri Lanka.
The AG has filed 27 charges against the notorious elephant trader Niraj Roshan alias ‘Ali Roshan’ and 6 others under the Offences against Public Property Act. with regard to the possession of 4 elephants without licenses and racketeering.
Roshan is charged with capturing elephant calves in an inhumane manner from forests and selling them for profit to high-profile individuals.
At a previous occasion, the Trial-at-Bar ordered to release Roshan and 6 others from the case filed over similar charges after upholding defence’s preliminary objections.
The Permanent High Court-at-Bar decided to reject the indictments filed by the AG citing that the Permanent High Court has no jurisdiction to hear the case.
At this stage defence had contended that Permanent High Court-at-Bar has no jurisdiction to hear this case since it had been filed under section 27 of Fauna and Flora Ordinance and section 5(3) of the Public Property Act.
Accordingly, the AG has decided to file fresh indictments regarding this elephant trafficking incident.
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