COLOMBO : The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has formally suspended the duties of Magistrate and District Judge of Moratuwa Thilina Gamage, who is now under investigation over renewed allegations concerning his involvement in a high profile elephant trafficking case.
On Friday (August 1) Magistrate Gamage received a written notification from the JSC, granting him 21 days to respond to the charges filed against him. The suspension formally came into effect Saturday, Aug. (2), suspending his official functions at the Moratuwa District Court.
The updated disciplinary proceedings follow the re-submission of a charge sheet by the JSC in June alleging Gamage’s illegal possession of a baby elephant calf, named Sakura, possibly under a forged permit.
In May 2016, Gamage was suspended while serving as Additional Magistrate in Colombo.
At that time, the CID had named him a suspect in the same elephant matter, and he availed bail subsequently. Though the Attorney General eventually dropped the criminal charges in December 2021, citing insufficient evidence, the JSC has now revived the internal investigation.
Gamage was transferred to the Moratuwa Magistrate’s Court and District Judge’s seat in early 2025 by the JSC, following controversy linked to a bribery allegation involving his brother, a former Provincial Councillor, and concerns over judicial propriety.
Gamage came to prominence during the Aragalaya period for hearing cases and passing verdicts at his residence where another elephant was also kept in captivity. Many environmental activists and legal analysts said that Gamage’s verdicts have come under scrutiny as allegations remain on the involvement of the then Rajapaksa Government in aiding Gamage to acquire wild elephants illegally.
They have called on the Government to launch a full probe into these allegations without delay.
