Kerala High Court Quashes Government Order Legalizing Actor Mohanlal’s Ivory Possession

The Kerala High Court has quashed a government order that legalized actor Mohanlal's possession of ivory tusks, citing a critical procedural lapse. The court found that the 2015 notification was never published in the Gazette.

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has delivered a setback to actor Mohanlal and the state government by quashing the order that had legalized the actor’s possession of ivory tusks. The court ruled that the government order issued in 2015 suffered from procedural lapses and directed authorities to issue a fresh notification in the matter.

Procedural Lapse

According to the court, the principal flaw was that the government notification approving Mohanlal’s possession of ivory had never been officially published in the Gazette. This omission, the bench observed, invalidated the license and rendered the actor’s possession certificate legally untenable.

Controversy in 2011

The controversy dates back to August 2011, when officers from the Income Tax Department raided Mohanlal’s residence in Thevara, Ernakulam, and discovered ivory tusks. At that time, the actor did not hold a valid license to keep them. Following the seizure, Mohanlal applied for permission, and the government subsequently issued a certificate allowing him to retain the ivory.

However, the court has now determined that this certificate was issued based on an incomplete process. The lack of proper publication of the 2015 notification, it stated, amounted to a critical failure in administrative procedures. Consequently, the High Court has revoked Mohanlal’s license to possess ivory, emphasizing that the issue stemmed from a procedural, not personal, lapse.