Presenting the defense statement of the case against Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero over the alleged illegal possession of an elephant calf commenced today (25).

Defending attorney, President’s Counsel Prasanna Lal de Alwis presented the statements before the Colombo High Court Judge Sampath Wijeratne.

He states that the way Attorney General (AG) has presented the charge sheet for the case is completely illegitimate. While the plaintiff has said that the defendant had illegally kept an elephant calf, the charge sheet presented by the AG mentions that it is a tusker, he pointed out.

A tusker and an elephant calf are different and therefore the charges are contradictory, which makes the charge sheet illegitimate. The case cannot be moved forward as the plaintiff has been unable to prove the charge on the charge sheet.
 
Pointing out that the wildlife Department didn’t issue permits for any elephant in Sri Lanka since 2014, the defense counsel state that when the elephant calf alleged to have been in the possession of Dhammaloka Thero was arrested no domesticated elephants in Sri Lanka had permits.

By not issuing permits, the wildlife department is guilty under the criminal law and if the CID and the Attorney General has instructed wildlife officials they too are guilty of the same crime, he added.

Defense Counsel further stated that both Deputy Minister Wasantha Senanayake and the CID conspired to frame Dhammaloka Thero with this case.

The next hearing of the case was postponed to the 19th November.

The case against Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero was filed by the Attorney General for the alleged illegal retainment of an elephant calf without a valid permit at the Alan Mathiniyaramaya Temple in Kirulapone.