Elephant Parading For Temple Festivals Not Essential Religious Practice: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court dismissed an application filed by the Cochin Devaswom Board which sought a modification of Court's guidelines requiring a 3 meter distance between two Elephants when parading them for festivals.The Division Bench of Justice A.K.Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P, on applying the essential religious practise Test laid down by the Apex Court in Commr. of Police v. Acharya Jagadishwarananda Avadhuta (2002), Indian Young Lawyers Assn. v State of Kerala (2019), stated that parading of Elephants in temple festivals would not constitute an Essential Religious Practice."We have no doubt in our minds that if the above tests are applied, by no stretch of imagination can it be held that the conduct of festivities by parading elephants is a part of the essential religious practice of any religion.", stated the Court. The Court was considering an application filed by the Devaswom Coard to modify its 3-meter distance rule for parading Elephants at the Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple in Thripunithura.The Court stated that the parading of elephants is not an essential religious practice but rather a ritual. It further emphasized that temple authorities cannot seek exemption from the 3-meter distance rule between Elephants, which was implemented to ensure proper regulation.Court stated orally, “What is essential religious test? It is something without which the religion will not survive...In your case, fundamentally what is wrong is that use of Elephants itself in religious ceremonies is not an essential religious practice. But we will forget that for the time being, ultimately any religion will sustain by the faith of the people, people may want to see this, so you can have it, it is basically a cosmetic thing for the purposes of keeping the religion fervour and for keeping the faith of the people…If the use of elephants is not mandated by any scripture, then it is not an essential religious practice. We are not saying not to have elephants. For sustaining the faith of the people and the religious fervour, it is fine to have elephants, but you have to substantiate that a distance less than 3 metres is justifiable”The Court stated that the 3-meter distance rule between Elephants was made mandatory for the purpose of ensuring the safety of people attending the festivals. The Court stated that captive Elephants paraded for festivals are under great stress and could become aggressive and hard to control if proper safety precautions are not maintained. The Court found that there is sufficient expert and scientific evidence to state that a 3-meter distance is the minimum distance to be maintained between two Elephants.The Court stated that there are no rules mandating that a particular number of Elephants must be paraded for festivals. It stated that the number of Elephants accommodated would depend upon the facilities and space available in the Temple. The Court thus did not entertain the argument put forth by the Devaswom Board that there must be at least 15 Elephants paraded and that the 3-meter distance rule between them was unnecessary.“The whole purpose of this distance rule is to contain the number of Elephants in a festival…What is this practise that you are talking about? How is it an essential religious practise? Will a religion collapse?...Essential Religious practise is something without which the religion will not exist…we refuse to believe that a religion like Hinduism is so fragile that it will collapse without the presence of Elephant.” orally stated the Court. The Court stated that all the Temple authorities must comply with the 3-meter distance rule unless it is proven to be arbitrary. The Court stated that the guidelines issued by it will have to be mandatorily followed by authorities for parading Elephants for festivals.Court thus concluded in its order, "Having considered the submissions on this point, we are of the view that the said direction cannot be diluted in any manner. The requirement of maintaining distance between the elephants that are being paraded is a requirement of safety."Case Number: WP(C) 31520/ 2024 & Connected CasesCase Title: In Re Captive Elephants V Union Of India & Connected CasesClick here to Read/Download the Order

Elephant Parading For Temple Festivals Not Essential Religious Practice: Kerala High Court

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