Writ petition on elephant protection: Court directs notices to authorities

Colombo, August 29 (Daily Mirror) - The Court of Appeal today directed that direct notices be served on the Minister of Environment, the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and other state authorities in connection with a writ petition filed seeking an order directing the authorities to detect and remove illegal electric fences to ensure the protection and conservation of elephants.

K. Priyadarshani, President of the Association for the Protection of Elephants and Tuskers, filed this petition, naming as respondents the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, M.G.C. Sooriyabandara, Minister of Environment Dammika Patabendi, the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board and several others.

When the petition was called before Court of Appeal Justice K. Priyantha Fernando, the eighth respondent, the Attorney General, was represented by a State Counsel, who informed court that the Attorney General had not yet been retained by the other respondents. 

Accordingly, the matter was fixed for support on October 16.

The petitioner stated that Sri Lanka lost 488 elephants in 2023, and by the end of November 2024, a further 354 elephants had been lost. Of these, approximately 72 elephants were killed due to electrocution in 2023, while 49 suffered the same fate in 2024.

Senior Counsel Sandamal Rajapakse with Counsel Kalpanee Dissanayake appeared for the petitioner.