'Deplorable State Of Affairs': Kerala High Court Raps State After Tribal Man Killed In Elephant Attack At Aralam Farm

The Kerala High Court on Friday (27 February) criticised the State over the condition of Aralam Farm in Kannur District in light of the death of a person belonging to tribal community in an elephant attack on Friday morning.

A Division Bench comprising Dr. Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Jobin Sebastian were hearing petitions concerning the human- wildlife conflict in Wayanad and Aralam.

The Bench has been closely monitoring the human-wildlife conflict in Wayanad and Aralam and interim orders have been periodically passed to monitor the conflict. It had specifically asked the State if any plan of action had been formulated to combat the repeated elephant encroachments and attacks happening on Aralam farm.

Today, when the matter was taken up, the bench noted that Aneesh, a resident in the Aralam Tribal Rehabilitation and Development Mission (TRDM) area, sustained serious injuries in an elephant attack and succumbed to his injuries.

“Deplorable is the State of affairs in and around the Aralam Farm,” the Bench observed.

According to submissions placed before the Court, messages had been sent to the Rapid Response Team to trace the wild animal believed to be involved in the attack. However, the night patrol team of the Aralam Wildlife Division reportedly failed to locate the animal due to heavy mist in the area.

The Bench noted that the incident has brought into focus the vulnerability of tribal residents living in the TRDM area of Aralam Farm and the recurring issue of human-animal conflict in the region.

The proceedings were attended by Director STDD, Executive Engineer, Wildlife Warden Aralam, Wildlife Warden Wayanad, DC Kannur, Member Secretary, KSDC, District Collector Kannur.

The Court interacted with the Director of the State Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Department and in its order, following its interaction with the official, observed that he appeared to be “awfully ignorant” of the ground realities and the developments in and around the TRDM area.

While it was submitted that officials had been deputed to the scene of occurrence the following morning, the Court found the measures undertaken by the State administration to be inadequate, particularly in relation to safeguarding the lives of tribal residents.

The Court observed that the guarantee of life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution cannot be rendered meaningless by administrative inaction. It remarked that every loss of life arising from human-animal conflict represents a failure of governance and a breach of the constitutional assurance extended to citizens.

“The guarantee of life and personal liberty under the article 21 of the Constitution cannot be rendered meaningless by the inaction of the State administration. Every loss of life due to human-animal conflict represents the failure of the administration and non-adherence to the guarantee offered by the Constitution. In a sense, it is a failure to adhere to constitutional morality expected of the administration.” Court added.

With these observations, the Court adjourned the proceedings to March 2, 2026.

It directed that the Chief Secretary, the Secretary of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Department, and the Chief Wildlife Warden shall be present without fail through video conference on the next date of hearing.

Case Title : Baiju Paul Mathews v State of Kerala and connected case

Case No : WP(C) 7858/ 2025 and connected case

Party in person.

Counsel for Respondents - T R Harikumar, Arjun Raghavan, Nirmal S, V Harish, Nagaraj Naryanan

Click Here To Read/ Download Interim Order