Udawalawe Case (Connected matter to SCFR/410/2008)

Case number

SCFR/529/11

In 2008, EFL filed a case with regard to a proposed electric fence around the Udawalawe National Park, which threatened the movement of elephants between the Dahaiyagala and Bogahapitiya Sanctuary. Following a court directive the corridor could not be blocked by the proposed fence, a subsequent Fundamental Rights application was filed in Supreme Court by several aggrieved farmers as the new electric fence was encroaching on their land. EFL was added as an Added Respondent in 2012.

When the case came up on the 08th of September 2023, the State informed that the encroachment to the lands issued to the Petitioners happened after the lands were surveyed and the boundaries were shown to the Petitioners and thus it is the responsibility of the Petitioners to look into the encroachment, but the Petitioners denied the same. Accordingly, the matter was fixed for Arguments on 20th March 2024.