Ivory possession case: Perumbavoor court directs actor Mohanlal to appear on Nov 3

The case pertains to the recovery of four ivory tusks in 2011 by the Income Tax Department from actor Mohanlal's house in Kochi.

Ernakulam: The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court at Perumbavoor has summoned actor Mohanlal to appear for trial in the case of illegal ivory possession. The actor must appear on November 3. An earlier plea by the state government to stop prosecuting the matter had been rejected by the court. The case pertains to the recovery of four ivory tusks in 2011 by the Income Tax Department from the actor's residence at Thevara in Kochi. He was booked under the Wild Life (Protection) Act.

The ivory, according to Mohanlal, was purchased from K Krishnakumar. 

The assistant public prosecutor had argued for the case's withdrawal when the actor informed the court that he has a certificate of ownership for the ivory sets.

In opposition to petitions brought by AA Paulose and James Mathew, the state had claimed before the High Court of Kerala that the issue was not relevant to outside parties. The court nonetheless determined that the matter was of public interest and advised the magistrate court to continue the case. 

 The other accused in the case are P.N. Krishnakumar, K. Krishnakumar and Nalini Radhakrishnan.

Even though the actor received a certificate of ownership for the ivory from the Forest Department five years later, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India underlined in a 2018 report that the certificate had been provided in violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act. In 2019, the Forest Department subsequently submitted a chargesheet against the defendant.

The actor was last seen in the Tamil flick 'Jailer' in a guest appearance directed by Nelson Dilipkumar alongside superstar Rajinikanth.