The Judicial Service Commission has decided to remove former Colombo Chief Magistrate and former Moratuwa District Judge Thilina Gamage from service, after finding him guilty of all charges levelled against him in a disciplinary inquiry, the Daily Mirror reported.
Gamage had been suspended from duties pending the outcome of the inquiry, and the decision follows the conclusion of those proceedings. NewsFirst and Hiru News reported the same decision, each noting that he was under interdiction and was found guilty of every charge.
An eleven-year case over an elephant calf
The Daily Mirror reports that the disciplinary investigation concerned allegations of misconduct relating to the possession of a baby elephant named Sakura under a permit allegedly obtained fraudulently.
The matter began with a Criminal Investigation Department inquiry into the alleged illegal possession of the animal, which was handed over to the Department of Wildlife Conservation in May 2015. In 2016, the Commission suspended Gamage while he was serving as an Additional Magistrate in Colombo.
Indictments were filed in the Colombo High Court on 7 November 2019 against Gamage, Chandraratna Bandara Yatawara and two others. The Attorney General’s Department withdrew the criminal charges against Gamage on 16 December 2021, citing insufficient evidence.
The disciplinary track continued separately. The Commission filed a charge sheet in June 2025, and in August 2025 took further steps regarding his suspension; he was notified in writing on 1 August and given 21 days to respond.
Hiru’s account is broader than the Daily Mirror’s on one point: it says Gamage had been investigated over several charges, of which the elephant calf matter was one, rather than that single allegation alone.
Context
The decision is the second Judicial Service Commission disciplinary outcome reported this week, and it runs the opposite way to the first. On Thursday the Commission cleared former Colombo Fort Magistrate Kosala Senadheera of all charges and reinstated him with back pay after a 27-month inquiry.
Not reported
None of the three filings states whether Gamage intends to appeal, what happens to his pension or entitlements, or what the other charges Hiru refers to actually were. None gives the Commission’s reasoning, says whether its findings will be published, or carries any comment from Gamage, his counsel or the Commission. Nor does any filing explain the gap between the Attorney General’s 2021 withdrawal of the criminal charges for insufficient evidence and the disciplinary finding of guilt on all counts — separate processes applying different standards of proof.
Sources: Daily Mirror, NewsFirst, Hiru News.
