Madras High Court's Forest Bench To Hear Plea To Relocate Wild Tusker 'Arikomban' To Kerala

The Madras High Court on Tuesday said that it'll post the public interest litigation seeking translocation of the rogue elephant Arikomban to Kerala before the forest bench. A division bench comprising Justice R Subramanian and Justice Victoria Gowri ordered the same on a Public Interest Litigation filed by Rebecca Joseph, a native of Kerala. In her petition, Rebecca sought for a modification of a site to where Arikomban was being translocated. She sought for his translocation to the Tamil Nadu forests bordering the Mathikettan Shola National Park in Kerala, a place which the elephant was familiar with rather than an unknown location.The court said that since a forest bench comprising of Justice N Satish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy was dealing a batch of cases relating to western ghats and other forest issues, it would be better if the bench hears this matter. We are not experts. I'll post it before the forest bench comprising Justices Satish Kumar and Bharatha Chakravarthy, Justice Subramanian said. The court also said that some decisions were best left to discretion of authorities and also orally remarked that it could not interfere with the orders of the Kerala High Court. Some decisions, it's better to be left to the discretion of the authorities. Let Kerala HC ensure compliance with its orders. We cannot interfere with its orders. They have to decide what is to be done. We cannot sit here and decide how they have to do thingsPublic Interest Litigation To Assess Damages and Compensation On Monday, the Madras High Court had disposed of a Public Interest Litigation filed by an agriculturist, Professor M Gopal seeking to form a committee to assess the damages caused by the rogue elephant Arikomban in Theni District and to compensate those affected accordingly. Justice R Subramanian and Justice L Victoria Gowri of the Madurai bench disposed of the PIL after recording the submissions of the Additional Advocate General who informed the court that the elephant had been tranquilized in the early hours of Monday morning and had been translocated to a safe location. In his petition, Gopal submitted that the Tamil Nadu state has a duty to protect the life of the people from the havoc caused by the elephant. He submitted that the Elephant had strayed into the Cumbum area and the neighbouring villages in the Theni district and had caused destruction to property and injury to persons. He further stated that even though the Government of Kerala and the High Court of Kerala are interested to protect the lives of its people and the elephant, no conclusive and resolute steps have been taken by the authorities to take back the elephant which has strayed from its place in Kerala to the State of Tamil Nadu. He further stated that he had already sent representations to the Theni District Collector, Superintendent of Police and the District Forest Officer regarding the chaos and havoc committed by the elephant in Cumbum-Theni area and since no action had been taken he has moved the court. When the matter was taken up, the AAG informed the court that the State has already compensated the death of a man and the damage being caused by the elephant. It was also submitted that the elephant has been tranquilized and translocated. Taking this into consideration, the court disposed of the PIL.The pachyaderm, which was named Arikomban (rice tusker) due to its fondness for rice, was inhabiting near the forests in Munnar-Chinnakanal region in Kerala. Since it was raiding shops and houses in the tribal colonies looking for rice and was posing a danger to human life and property, it was captured and shifted to Periyar tiger reserve as following the orders of the Kerala High Court. The initial plan of the Kerala Government was to keep it in confinement at an animal centre. However, the High Court intervened and ordered that it should be translocated to another natural habitat. After its release into the Periyar national park, the animal strayed into Tamil Nadu. Last week, it appeared in Cumbum town and caused a scare, following which the Tamil Nadu government intervened.Case Title: Rebecca Joseph v Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden and OthersCase No: WP(MD) 13060 of 2023

Madras High Court's Forest Bench To Hear Plea To Relocate Wild Tusker 'Arikomban' To Kerala

Upasana Sajeev

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