Niraj Roshan alias ‘Ali Roshan’ and 6 others, arrested over the illegal possession of four elephants and racketeering, have been granted bail with strict bail conditions by the Permanent High Court-at-Bar.

The case was taken up today (26) before a trial-at-bar comprised of Justices Sampath Abeykoon (Chairman), Sampath Wijayaratne and Champa Janaki Rajaratne.

The indictments filed by the Attorney General against the defendants were handed over today, after which the Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris addressing the court stated that this is a special case in the country’s judicial history.

The deputy solicitor general also informed the court that the Attorney General does not object to granting bail to the suspects.

Meanwhile the defense attorney stated that the suspects have already been ordered to be released on bail by magistrate courts.

Therefore the Permanent High Court-at-Bar ordered each defendant released on a cash bond of Rs 100,000 and two personal bonds of Rs 2.5 million each. They were also barred from traveling abroad.

The court ordered the Controller of Immigration and Emigration to notify the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) if any of the defendants attempt to travel overseas without proper approval.

The court also ordered the defendants to report to the CID on the last Sunday of every month.

The defendants granted bail also includes a former Deputy Director of the Wildlife Department Upali Padmasiri and the officer in charge of registering elephants at the Wildlife Department Priyangika Sanjeewani.

The Attorney General had filed a case against the 7 defendants on 27 charges under the Public Properties Act, with regard to the possession of four elephants without licenses and racketeering.