A Division Bench of the Madras High Court, comprising of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy observed that Elephants resided in Temples should be kept in humane conditions and all the steps and procedure should be followed to ensure the same.
“It is necessary that the State, through officials of the Forest Department, in conjunction with officials of the HR & CE Department, reports on the compliance of such rules at every temple site with any captive elephant.”
Factual Background
The Petitioner had an attachment with two elephants captive in the temple. The petitioner also referred to a video that had gone viral a couple of months back showing the merciless beating an elephant by its mahout or helper. Though such aspect of the matter has been dealt with in an earlier order, the petitioner's grievance that the two elephants at the Srirangam Temple are without mahouts is disturbing. Thus, he filed a petition before this Court.
Court Reasoning and Judgment
The Court pointed out two aspects in the following present writ petition:
1- Treatment of the elephants in captivity, particularly in several temples in the State.
2- The desirable prohibition of the wonderful animal being domesticated or used as a beast of burden any further.
The Court ordered relevant authorities to:
“ensure that the elephants held in captivity by the various temples are treated in a humane and dignified manner, are provided sufficient food and water and shelter from the heat and not otherwise beaten or mistreated in any manner or form.”
The Court has listed the matter on 08.06.21 for the next hearing.
Case Details
Case: W.P.Nos.3656, 3660, 3662 & 3663 of 2021
Quorum: Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy
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