New Delhi, Nov 6:
The Supreme Court on Thursday voiced grave concern over the allegedly hurried inter-state relocation of captive elephants, highlighting an instance where a pachyderm was transported nearly 3,000 km to Chennai within just nine days.
Hearing a petition filed by animal welfare NGO People for Cattle in India, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that captive elephant transfers must strictly satisfy statutory environmental clearances. Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, representing the petitioner, argued that statutory protocols require multi-stage vetting typically spanning 50 days, whereas an application made on September 4 resulted in the elephant reaching Chennai by September 13.
Observing that the elephants had already arrived at their destination, the bench remarked: “If it was a hasty exercise and it was brought to our notice, we would have interdicted it.” Recalling that the court had restrained the capture of wild elephants since 2021, the bench permitted the petitioner to withdraw the plea with liberty to file an appropriate interlocutory application in ongoing proceedings.