25 June 2020 12:04 am
The judgement in the Wilpattu Deforestation case filed against former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen will be delivered on July 31 by Court of Appeal.
Earlier, a writ petition was filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) against the deforestation of nearly thousands of acres of forest land for a housing project in the Marichchikkattu forest reserve. The matter was taken up before Justices Janak de Silva and Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne.
Former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, the Central Environment Authority, the Department of Forest Conservation and several other parties were named as respondents in the case. In the petition, CEJ mentioned that a grave damage was caused to the environment by clearing thousands of acres of forest land which belong to the Marichchikattu forest reserve located close to the Wilpattu Forest Reservation. The petition requested for an injunction order be issued preventing further clearing of forest within the designated zone for the purpose of constructing houses.