Actor Mohanlal, who is facing trial for illegal possession of two pairs of tusks, has declared that he possesses 10 elephant tusks and 13 ivory idols under a recently launched government amnesty scheme. Mohanlal began facing legal trouble over ivory after four elephant tusks were found from his house during an Income Tax raid in his house in 2011.
The State Forest Department had issued a notification in March 2026 enabling the general public to declare the wildlife trophies in their possession by invoking Section 40(4) of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
Those applying for amnesty need to declare that the artefacts were acquired through legal means and also give consent for fixing identification marks on each of the items.
The ivory idols, which were declared previously, include representations of Lord Krishna, Lord Rama and Tirupati Balaji and weigh approximately 46 kg according to reports. Mohanlal has claimed that the tusks came from family inheritance or were given to him as presents, according to reports. While the actor was booked for the possession of ivory tusks, no case was registered for keeping ivory idols.
Section 40 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 obliges a person having control, custody or possession of such government property to declare the same within the prescribed time limit if 30 days of the Act's commencement. If no such declaration is made by such persons, their continued control, custody or possession of such animal articles would be unlawful.
In October 2025, the Kerala High Court had quashed ownership certificates issued to Mohanlal. It said the state government failed to follow the mandatory statutory procedure of publishing the notifications permitting the actor to declare the ivory items in the official gazette. The state argued that the lapse on its part, in not publishing the notifications in the official gazette, was a mere technical irregularity. The court however said the state government is at liberty to issue a fresh notification, as per Section 40(4)of the 1972 Act, for conferring the immunity.
The original deadline for Indian citizens to declare the possession of wildlife trophies and ivory had expired on September 30, 1991.