Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Monday, June 13, 2016

MC bail order suspended


JUN 13 2016

The Colombo High Court yesterday issued an Interim Order suspending the operation of the Nugegoda Magistrate’s bail order in respect of former Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage over the alleged possession of a baby elephant without a valid licence and with regard to several suspicious alterations in the elephant registration.

The Interim Order will be effective until June 21.

High Court Judge Manilal Waidyatilleke made this order consequent to a revision application filed by the Attorney General and the CID challenging the Nugegoda Magistrate’s order on legal grounds.

On June 2, issuing an order directing to release the suspect on bail, Nugegoda Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne observed that the elephant calf in question cannot be considered as a public property since the Wildlife Director General had issued a licence on a previous occasion. Accordingly, Gamage was ordered to be released on cash bail of Rs. 500,000 with four sureties of Rs. 2.5 million.

Meanwhile, Gamage who had been named as the third respondent in the revision application was noticed to appear in Court on June 21 by the Colombo High Court.

The High Court further issued an order directing the registrar of the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court that the case records pertaining to the magisterial inquiry be handed over to the High Court.

While supporting the revision application in Court, Senior State Counsel Dileepa Peiris appearing on behalf of the Attorney General informed Court that the Nugegoda Magistrate had issued an illegal order approving the release of Gamage on bail, contrary to the provision of the Public Property Act.

He sought an order to arrest and remand the suspect after revoking the Nugegoda Magistrate’s bail order.
SSC Peiris informed Court that according to the section 22 (12) of the Fauna and Flora Protection (Amendment) Act, No.22 of 2009 any elephant which has not been registered shall be presumed to be taken or removed from the wild without lawful authority or approval and such elephants shall be deemed to be public property.

SSC Peiris complained that the Nugegoda Magistrate has mistakenly mentioned in his order that it was section 23 (12) of Fauna Flora Protection Act the matter is relevant to.

Peiris told Court that the Nugegoda Magistrate had granted bail to Gamage in accordance with the Bail Act without taking into consideration provisions contained in the Public Property Act.

He further sought an order to determine whether this offence that comes under the Public Property Act would provide provisions to release such a suspect on bail.

He complained that the Nugegoda Magistrate had misused the judicial process after breaching the fundamental legal principle that all are equal before the law.

SSC Peiris further stated that the Nugegoda Magistrate had allowed the suspect to go home without letting him to fulfill his bail conditions such as a cash bail of Rs.500,000 and surety bail.

He further alleged that the Nugegoda Magistrate did not take into consideration the behaviour of the suspect who evaded the CID on several occasions, when releasing the suspect on bail.

“The suspect Thilina Gamage had used his judicial power and social status to cover up this offence. He illegally kept this elephant calf in his possession for a period of three years without a valid lisence,” SSC Peiris added.

He further questioned as to how the Nugegoda Magistrate drafted a bail order consisting 30 pages within an hour after adjourning Court proceedings around 5.00 p.m. on June 2.

He said the bail order was handed out around 6.20 p.m. but the Magistrate did not properly answer to the prosecution’s preliminary objections against the Magistrate for taking up this case on the grounds that the suspect and the Magistrate are very intimate friends.

The revision application was filed along with an affidavit given by the OIC of the Special Investigations Unit of the CID.

The elephant calf was named Sakura (Reg. No. 334). The value of the elephant calf was estimated as Rs. 6.9 million.

The prosecution maintained that Chandraratne Bandara Yatawara was the first owner of the elephant calf named Sakura (Reg. No. 334). The SSC said according to available documents, Chandraratne Bandara Yatawara who claimed himself to be a traditional elephant owner had submitted an application to the Wildlife Department for a licence for a three-year-old female elephant in 2008.

SSC Peiris said investigations revealed that the person called Yatawara was not a traditional elephant owner but a welder by profession.

He said the elephant calf was not a female as mentioned in the application.