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# Batticaloa MP Returns to Court Over Encroachment on Cattle Grazing Land
- URL: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/batticaloa-mp-returns-to-court-over-encroachment-on-cattle-grazing-land/
- Published: 2026-10-13T13:15:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-13T13:15:03.000Z
- Author: Our Reporter
- Tags: October  2026

**COLOMBO, Sri Lanka:** A member of Parliament from Batticaloa District has asked the Court of Appeal to reopen a case over the occupation of traditional cattle grazing land in the Eastern Province, saying state authorities did not carry out assurances given to the court that encroachers would be removed.

Shanakiyan Rasamanickam filed an application seeking to revive proceedings the court closed several years ago. According to the application, people occupying the Mayilathamadu and Mathavanai grazing lands returned after the earlier case ended. Since then, it says, they have burned grassland, ploughed pasture with tractors and other heavy machinery, and planted crops. Complaints to the authorities have gone unanswered, the application says.

Mr. Rasamanickam’s office said the matter was expected to be taken up next week, subject to the court’s directions, and that notices would be sent to the respondents. M.A. Sumanthiran, a President’s Counsel who argued the original case, will again represent him.

The application names six officials as respondents: the Government Agent for Batticaloa District, the Divisional Secretary of Eravur Pattu, the Governor of the Eastern Province, the Director General of the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, the Divisional Forest Officer for Batticaloa and the Eastern Province’s Provincial Director of the Department of Animal Production and Health.

The Mahaweli Authority is central to the case. During the original proceedings, assurances were given on its behalf that steps would be taken to evict the encroachers. The court terminated the case on the strength of those assurances soon after Ranil Wickremesinghe became president.

The dispute has now run through three presidencies. Mr. Rasamanickam first went to court under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, when, according to his office, encroachment on the grazing lands increased amid allegations of unauthorized settlement and cultivation. His office said the Eastern Province administration under the governor at the time, Anuradha Yahampath, drew particular criticism over its role.

After the case closed, Mr. Wickremesinghe directed officials to remove the occupants and find other land for cultivation. Farmers said the encroachment continued.

Under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the issue was discussed at a district-level meeting in Batticaloa, where directions were reportedly given to protect and release grazing land for cattle farmers. Mr. Rasamanickam has also raised the matter with the president and in Parliament.

More recently, Sunil Handunnetti, a cabinet minister, told the Batticaloa District Coordinating Committee that presidential approval had been obtained to gazette the Mayilathamadu–Mathavanai area as designated grazing land, with the involvement of the Mahaweli Authority and the Department of Forest Conservation. He said other parties would be offered alternative land. Mr. Rasamanickam’s office said reports of encroachment, burning and clearing have continued since that announcement.

The pastures have been used for generations by cattle farmers from Kiran, Chenkalady, Porathivu and Paddipalai. Farmers have reported cattle being shot and killed, property being destroyed and threats against herders trying to reach the grazing grounds. They say complaints to the police and to administrative officials have not prevented further incidents. The loss of animals and pasture has caused heavy financial losses for families who depend on cattle rearing and dairy production.

In a statement, Mr. Rasamanickam’s office said farmers should not have to keep protesting, seeking political intervention or returning to court to protect land their livelihoods have long depended on. It said the immediate priority was for the authorities to enforce the law, stop further encroachment and allow farmers to graze their cattle without intimidation.