The Kerala government has issued a no objection certificate to withdrawing the wildlife crime case registered against actor Mohanlal for illegally procuring and stocking elephant tusks, a Schedule One wild animal.
Mr. Mohanlal is the first accused in the case. P.N. Krishnakumar of Olloor, Thrissur; K. Krishnakumar of Eroor, Thripunithura; and Nailini Radhakrishnan of Chennai are the other accused in the case.
Requests by actor
The actor has been charged under various Sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which deals with the prohibition of trade or commerce in trophies and animal articles derived from certain animals.
It was after considering the two requests made by Mr. Mohanlal on January 31, 2016 and another one, three years later on September 20, 2019 that the State government took the decision to issue the NOC. The government also considered a letter written by the Chief Wildlife Warden on August 14 last year and another letter from the Director General of Prosecution on December 4, 2019, in this regard before arriving at the decision.
The Additional Chief Secretary wrote a letter to the Ernakulam District Collector on February 7 this year, stating that the State government had no objection to withdrawing the criminal case registered against the actor with the consent of the court. The government has also asked the District Collector to issue directives to the Public Prosecutor/Assistant Public Prosecutor in this regard.
Incidentally, the The Forest Department had been conducting the criminal case against the actor at the judicial first class magistrate court, Perumbavoor. The case was registered by the Kodanad Forest Range officer. After the initial proceedings, the court posted the case in March.
It was by invoking the Section 321 of Criminal Procedure Code, which empowers public prosecutors to withdraw the case after obtaining a written permission from the State government, that the Kerala government made the controversial move.
The Forest officials had seized two tusks and a mirror stand with another two tusks fixed on both sides of the mirror from his house in 2011. The offences charged against Mr. Mohanlal attract imprisonment for a term not less than three years and may extend to seven years and fine not less than ₹10,000.