Four ivory tusks were seized from Mohanlal’s house in 2012
Kochi:
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed actor Mohanlal’s plea against a trial court order setting aside the state government’s move to withdraw prosecution proceedings against him in a case related to illegal possession of ivory.
Justice A Badruddin was of the view that an accused in a case has “no right to challenge an order refusing to withdraw prosecution” as the said process is the prerogative of the prosecution.
The court, however, set aside the order of the trial court as well and directed for a fresh consideration of the state government’s plea to withdraw the suit in the matter.
The High Court said, “…the prayer for withdrawal of prosecution in the present case sought by the Government requires reconsideration by the trial court.”
It directed the parties to appear before the trial court on March 3.
“The trial court shall be directed to hear and pass fresh orders as expeditiously as possible, within a period of not less than six months from the date of receipt of the copy of this order,” the High Court said.
The state government had sought withdrawal of the prosecution saying it would be a futile exercise and a waste of the court’s time.
The magisterial court, in its June 2022 order, indicated that it was not inclined to accept the prayer as a hasty petition without addressing the challenges raised before the High Court with regard to the validity of the title certificate issued to Mohanlal. was filed.
On February 7, 2020, the state government had agreed to withdraw from prosecution in the case.
The trial court, in its order, had said that there was no gazette notification in the matter and therefore the said certificate of ownership of the teeth had no legal validity and was void ab initio.
Four ivory tusks were recovered from the actor’s house in a raid by Income Tax officials in June 2012, following which a case was registered against him.
The complainant had alleged that the top actor had used his clout to hush up the case without any further investigation.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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