Yakdehige Mahesh Priyadarshana Fernando vs OIC Police Station, Wennappuwa – CA PHC 60/2011-2013

In the case between Yakdehige Mahesh Priyadarshana Fernando (petitioner/appellant) and the Officer in Charge (OIC), Police Station, Wennappuwa and the Hon. Attorney General (respondents), the court addressed whether the confiscation of lorry No — WPGR 8585 was valid under section 3A of the Animals Act, 29 of 1958 (as amended) after its use in transporting cattle and buffaloes without a permit. The primary holding determined that the lower courts failed to give adequate consideration to the owner’s lack of knowledge of the illegal activity, as required by statute. The court reinstated the principle that confiscation under the Animals Act must only follow after considering if the owner took all reasonable precautions and lacked knowledge of the offence. This decision relied on statutory int