Actor Mohanlal To Face Trial Before Kerala Court In Ivory Possession Case

Malayalam actor Mohanlal will now have to face trial in a wildlife crime case booked against him after a trial court in Kerala dismissed the State's plea to withdraw the prosecution proceedings on Thursday. 

The actor was booked for illegal possession of two pairs of ivory after the Income Tax Department recovered illegal ivory from his Kochi residence in a raid in June 2012. A case was accordingly registered against him by the Forest Department under Section 50 of the Wild Life Protection Act. 

The actor had applied to the government in January 2016 and September 2019 respectively, urging it to withdraw the case claiming that the ivory was purchased legally. Following this claim, he was provided relaxation by the State which prompted the prosecution to file a plea to withdraw the case. 

However, the Judicial First Class Magistrate of Perumbavoor dismissed the State's plea where it had contended that proceeding with the case would be a futile exercise and a waste of the "precious time of the court".

The petitioners opposed the withdrawal plea through Advocate Abraham P. Meachinkara, citing that the ownership certificate provided to the actor for ivory was void. It was also argued that a mere certificate was not the ground for withdrawing the case against Mohanlal.

The petitioners also added that no case has been charged against the actor for 13 ivory artefacts, adding that these artefacts were found with two pairs of elephant tusks.