Wilpattu petition reopened as judge declines to deliver verdict
May 28, 2019 01:31 pm
The Court of Appeal has set the date to rehear a petition filed calling for the removal of unauthorized resettlements in Wilpattu National Park as CA Judge Mahinda Samayawardhena has declined to deliver its verdict.
Hearing the petition lodged by the Centre for Environmental Justice was already concluded before CA Judge Mahinda Samayawardhena and its verdict was slated to be delivered on August 6th.
However, the Court of Appeal has decided to hear the petition before CA Judges Janak de Silva and Nishshanka Karunaratne on July 31st.
The Centre for Environmental Justice had lodged the petition in 2015, stating that reforestation and illegal resettlement at Wilpattu National Park have caused massive environmental destruction and sought an order of Writ of Certiorari and Mandamus to remove illegal resettlements in a forest reserved area.
Director of Wild Life Department, Central Environmental Authority, Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and several others had been named as the respondents of the petition.
