The Court of Appeal suspends the Magisterial Order releasing five elephants to their original owners

The Court of Appeal suspends the Magisterial Order releasing five elephants to their original owners. The Court of Appeal on Friday issued an interim order suspending the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s decision to release five elephants back to their original claimants. This order will be effective for 14 days.

The Court of Appeal made this order following the petitioners’ submissions that the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court had today issued an order to release five elephants.

The Court of Appeal had previously issued an interim order prohibiting the Director General of the Wildlife Conservation Department from registering all elephants in accordance with the new regulations being challenged in court.

The Court had also issued an order directing officials of the Department of Wildlife Conservation not to release the cow elephant named “Sujeewa” and her three-month-old baby elephant back to the claimants or any other party.

These two interim orders will be effective until the final determination of the four writ petitions filed by the Center for Eco-Cultural Studies, Justice for Animals Sri Lanka, and the Centre for Environmental Justice.

The Court of Appeal’s Justices Sobhitha Rajakaruna and Dhammika Ganepola fixed the petitions for further argument on November 28.

The petitioners said the decision to give elephants back to the perpetrators is contrary to the interests of conservation and protection of elephants and a derogation of the fundamentally compelling duty of the state to ensure the fostering and propagation of a national heritage for the benefit of all citizens, both current and future generations.

The Petitioners further state that ensuring the due care and wellbeing of an elephant can only be done effectively by persons who are intensely knowledgeable about elephants and their behavior, and this should be based on a scientific premise and not purely on grandiose self-proclamation or perception.

President’s Counsel Sanjeewa Jayawardena appeared with Counsel Prashanthi Mahindaratne, Shanaka Amarasinghe, Lakmini Warusevitane, and Dilumi de Alwis for the petitioners. Senior Counsel Ravindranath Dabare appeared for the Center for Environmental Justice.