In a setback to actor Mohanlal, the Kerala High Court recently held that the ownership certificates he holds for two pairs of ivory tusks are invalid and legally unenforceable. The HC, did, however, say that the state was at liberty to issue a fresh notification regularising the possession.Under what conditions are you allowed to own ivory items? Since Mohanlal has state-issued certificates for the tusks, why is he still in legal trouble? We explain.Recovery of ivory tusks during an I-T raidIn 2011, following an alert from the Income Tax department, the forest department carried out a raid at the Kochi residence of Mohanlal. They found two pairs of elephant tusks — one fixed on a rosewood stand and two tusks on either side of a mirror.One of the pairs had been collected from a dead captive elephant owned by a person named P N Krishnakumar. A certificate of ownership had been issued to him in 1986. The second pair belonged to Nalini Radhakrishnan, who had inherited them from her father in-law, the Maharaja of Cochin.According to Section 40 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, a person who possesses any captive animal specified in Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II, or animal article, trophy or uncured trophy, should make a declaration before the Chief Wildlife Warden, in the absence of which, the custody or possession is unlawful.The declaration was to be made within a specified time, which Mohanlal did not do, and thus, the forest department in 2012 registered a case against him. While the matter was pending before a magistrate court in Perumbavoor, the prosecution approached the court seeking withdrawal of the case. The court did not allow this. The HC also ratified the stand of the magistrate court, where the criminal proceedings in the case are pending.Seeking ownership for tusksStory continues below this adWhile the forest case was pending, Mohanlal in 2015 first approached the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which asked him to go to the state Forest Department, because the tusks belonged to captive elephants and hence the matter came under the state government.In 2015, the state government, under section 40(4) of the Wildlife Protection Act, declared that the possession of the tusks by Mohanlal was in compliance with the Act. The forest department issued certificates of possession to Mohanlal.How this immunity was grantedAs per Section 40 (4) of the Act, the state is empowered to grant immunity in certain cases. For this, the applicant has to issue a declaration in the official gazette about the possession. Once the government accepts the declaration, the possession of the animal article or trophy by the declarant person becomes lawful.The government can then grant ownership certificates in respect of the animal item under Section 42 of the 1972 Act.What went wrong with certificates issued to MohanlalStory continues below this adThe notifications were not published in the official gazette. The government had argued that the notifications were given due publicity by circulating among all those mentioned, and also to the press, but this was found inadequate.