(Lanka-e-News- 12.March.2016, 11.45PM) The robed monk Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera of Polhengoda Alanmethiniyaramaya who reared a calf elephant like a dog was yesterday released on bail subject to stringent conditions.
The Colombo additional magistrate Nishantha Peiris after examining the bail application made on his behalf released him on three personal bails in sums of Rs. 6 million each. The Thera was also ordered not to exert pressure on witnesses , and the addresses of the sureties be made certain . The certificates confirming the assets of the sureties were also ordered to be produced.
The lawyers for the suspect Thera furnished four grounds in support of the bail application.
Those were :
The suspect has to attend the funeral of late Mahanayake Galagama Athdessi Thera and it will be demeaning for the Thera to be present at the funeral with prison escort . The second ground was the suspect is a well known dhamma preacher . The third ground was he stood to gain nothing monetarily by having the elephant calf with him , and the fourth ground was, there is no aggrieved party owing to this offence committed by the Thera .
The State Counsels on behalf of the Attorney General argued that though the first and second grounds can be accepted , the third and fourth grounds cannot be , while pointing out that the aggrieved party in this offence is the State.
After weighing the pros and cons of the submissions, the additional magistrate enlarged the Thera on bail subject to stringent conditions.
---------------------------
by (2016-03-13 15:24:32)
Read 34620 Times
Leave a Reply
1 discussion on this news
If Dhammaloka thera is being prosecuted why not go after GoTa-lokaya too? He got people to trap baby elephants for him to rear not forgetting the special dog he imported from Europe without paying a cent for a 1st class seat on the national airline.
-- by Dotti Senaratne on 2016-03-18
