The two-judge bench of the Court of Appeal consisting of Justices Janak de Silva and Nishshanka Bandula Karunaratne today (24) heard the petition, filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice.
Director of Wild Life Department, Central Environmental Authority, former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, and several others had been named as the respondents of the petition.
The Centre for Environmental Justice had lodged the petition in 2015, stating that reforestation and illegal resettlement at Wilpattu National Park have caused massive environmental destruction and sought an order of Writ of Certiorari and Mandamus to remove illegal resettlements in a forest reserved area.
Hearing of the petition was set to be concluded in August 2019, however, it was postponed as CA Judge Mahinda Samayawardhena has declined to deliver its verdict.
