Gauhati HC Declines Stay on Elephant Transfer
Court says no restraint is warranted unless mandatory clearances for transporting five captive elephants are shown to be absent
- Five captive elephants are proposed to be transported from Assam to temples in Tamil Nadu.
- The court said the transfer can proceed if all statutory clearances have been obtained.
- Assam told the court that the required clearances had been granted for the transfer.
- The matter will next be considered by the court on October 15.
GG News Bureau
Guwahati, 19th Sept: The Gauhati High Court has declined, for now, to restrain the transportation of five captive elephants from Assam to temples in Tamil Nadu, observing that there was no basis for a restraint order unless it was shown that mandatory regulatory clearances had not been obtained.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury was hearing an interlocutory application filed by Rohit Choudhury in a pending writ petition challenging provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 relating to the ownership, custody, control and possession of captive elephants.
The court observed that there was no law preventing the transfer of elephants provided the required statutory clearances were obtained. It said the applicant’s apprehension regarding possible ill-treatment was not, by itself, sufficient to justify a restraint order.
The applicant had referred to an earlier instance involving an elephant named Joymala, which allegedly overstayed in Tamil Nadu after being transferred there. The court noted that the State of Assam had itself approached the High Court seeking the elephant’s safe return.
Additional Advocate General P N Goswami, appearing for Assam, submitted that all necessary clearances for transferring the five elephants had been granted. He also assured the court that all possible measures would be taken to ensure their safe transportation for religious purposes.
The court, however, kept the interlocutory application pending and directed the Additional Advocate General to file a response on the matter. It also noted that the applicant had approached a High Powered Committee, where the issue remains pending.
The connected writ petition challenges the validity of the proviso to Sections 40(2A) and 40(2B) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, alleging that the provisions create an exceptional regime for captive elephants and violate Article 14 of the Constitution.
The writ petition and the interlocutory application, initially scheduled for September 24, have now been directed to be listed together on October 15.
