Kochi: The Kerala High Court has upheld a magistrate court’s decision rejecting the discharge petitions of the three accused in the 2021 Muttil tree-felling case.
Justice G. Girish dismissed the pleas filed by the three brothers, ruling that a prima facie case of cheating is evident from the facts and circumstances of the case. The court found no grounds to interfere with the magistrate court’s order dated February 27.
The accused are alleged to have illegally felled, smuggled and sold rosewood trees worth several crores of rupees from Muttil, a tribal village in Kerala’s Wayanad district, in one of the state’s biggest illegal tree-felling cases.
With the High Court dismissing their petitions, the criminal proceedings against the three accused will continue before the trial court.
