Jumbo deaths: CA give Wildlife Minister time to file objections

By Chitra Weerarathne

The Court of Appeal yesterday (15) gave the Minister of Wildlife Conservation C B Rathnayake and the Director General of Wildlife Conservation time till January 25, 2021, to file objections to the writ Application filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice, complaining against the killing of several wild elephants in the Habarana forest in October 2019.

Those elephants had been poisoned to death, the petitioner said, adding that the respondents had failed to investigate the killings. That negligence on the part of the respondents should be taken into consideration by the Court consequent to a mandatory order issued on them to investigate and report to the Court, the petition said.

The petitioners also wants the respondents to take necessary steps to prevent conflicts between the elephants and the villagers. Each year about 400 elephants are killed while 300 die in elephant attacks.

The Court at an earlier hearing issued notice on the respondents.

Deputy Solicitor General Parinda Ranasinghe appeared for the respondents.

Counsel Ravindranath Dabare and Nilmal Wickramasinghe appeared for the petitioners.

The bench comprised Justice Sobitha Rajakaruna.