The Attorney General filed the revision application at the Colombo High Court against the Gangodawila Magistrate’s decision to grant bail to Gamage when he surrendered to the Court on 2nd June.
Gangodawila Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne released Gamage on a Rs. 500,000 cash bail and four surety bails of Rs. 2.5 million each.
The revision application, filed with affidavits of Senior State Counsel Dileepa Peiris and the OIC of the Special Investigations Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of police argues that that Gangodawila Magistrate applied the Bail Act and granted bail to Gamage, when the Public Properties Act should have been applied.
It further said that the Gangodawila Magistrate has failed to define the elephant as a public property and has misused the judicial procedure in granting bail to the accused.
Gamage was granted bail for alleged possession of an elephant calf without a valid license on June 2. He was released on a cash bail of Rs 500,000 and four sureties of Rs 2.5 million each. He was banned from travelling abroad and was ordered to report to the CID on the last Sunday of each month.
The Judicial Services Commission has temporarily suspended Magistrate Gamage due to the ongoing investigation into the allegation of possession of a baby elephant without having official documentation. He has been charged under the Animal Welfare Legislation and Public Property Act.
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