Moved by videos shared on the social media regarding alleged cruel treatment meted out to 3 female elephants during translocation from Villupuram to Tiruchi recently, Justice G.R. Swaminathan of the Madras HC visited them in his private capacity at the Forest department camp.

After taking stock of Sandhya, 43, Indu, 34, & Jayanthi, 22, at the elephant camp in MR Palayam in Tiruchi, the judge wrote in the visitors’ book that he was “deeply disturbed over the manner of translocation” of the pachyderms from a private elephant camp run jointly by 2 different non-governmental organisations at Kurumbaram village in Marakkanam Taluk of Villupuram district. “Hence, I came to see them in person. I am happy to note that they are being taken good care. The elephants appear to have settled down. I spoke to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) also. The ambience is good & free from noise. The forest officials appear to be committed. I have been assured that they will be well fed & well cared for. I am confident that they will do so. I came disturbed but I return with a sense of relief,” his comment read. It was a Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan & N. Seshasayee of Madras HC which had ordered the translocation of the elephants owned by Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. The religious institution had handed over the pachyderms to the 2 Non Governmental Organization (NGO)s in 2015 with the consent of the Forest department for providing special treatment & care to the animals that had developed medical complications due to prolonged captivity.

The orders were passed while allowing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Chennai-based animal lover S. Muralidharan, who accused the 2 Non Governmental Organization (NGO)s of using the elephants to make money through foreign donations. After the translocation on the basis of court orders, a few video clips surfaced on social media accusing the mahouts engaged by the department of having used force to make the animals walk into the trucks.

The Non Governmental Organization (NGO)s took the issue to the notice of the Division Bench too. However, the department filed a detailed status report refuting all those allegations & claimed that the animals were translocated with utmost care & that they had settled down well at the MR Palayam camp.

After recording the submission, the judges said there was no necessity to pass any further orders

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