Supreme Court Stays Kerala HC Order Barring Temples Not Registered With District Committees From Parading Elephants

The Supreme Court on Monday (March 17) stayed the interim order of the Kerala High Court that temples and devaswoms which have not registered with the District Committees before the cut-off date of 31.05.2022 cannot be permitted to parade elephants at festivals.A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma passed the stay order while issuing notice on a petition filed by an organisation 'Vishwa Gaja Seva Samithi' challenging the High Court's order passed on January 13.In December last year, the same bench had stayed an earlier order passed by the High Court which mandated, among other things, that there should be a minimum distance of 3 meters between the elephants paraded during temple festivals. During the hearing in December, the Court had orally remarked that the High Court's directions were not practical and temple customs could not be curtailed.Along similar lines, the same bench yesterday stayed the latest interim order passed by the High Court.A High Court bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Gopinath P has been hearing a suo motu case regarding various issues related to captive elephants in the State.The High Court passed the latest order, despite the earlier stay order of the Supreme Court, by noting that the Supreme Court had also stated that there needs to be strict compliance with the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2012. Rule 10(4)(i) talks about the "sufficient space" that needs to be maintained between elephants.The High Court therefore directed that the State must specify what should be the "sufficient space."The High Court in its interim order noted: "We note, however, that the said order of the Supreme Court, while staying the aforesaid direction issued by us also directed that the provisions of the 2012 Rules shall be strictly complied with both in letter and spirit by the petitioners therein. A compliance with the 2012 Rules will be incomplete unless the organisers of the festivals and those parading the elephants at such festivals also comply with the Rule that requires them to maintain “sufficient space” between the elephants...We are also of the view that the State Government must specify the distance that should be maintained between elephants and the crowd during festivals because incidents such as the one that occurred in Tirur have necessarily to be avoided."Further, the High Court ordered that no fresh permission shall be granted to the temples and Devaswoms to conduct elephant processions after the cut-off date of August 18, 2015, set by the Supreme Court in its 2015 order directing their registration with the District Committee to carry out processions and parades.The Court noted that this cut-off date was extended till 31.05.2022 by the State Government through a Government notification."While so, we are now informed that the District Committee is entertaining applications for permission to parade elephants from temples and Devaswoms that are not registered with the District Committee. This, in our view is impermissible and would be in violation of the Supreme Court directions. Accordingly, we direct that the District Committee shall not entertain any application for permission to parade elephants from such temples/Devaswoms/organising committees as have not already been registered with the District Committee within the time permitted for the same by the order of the Supreme Court and Government Order referred above."Furthermore, the High Court has stated that the District Committee shall only consider those applications from registered temples only after ensuring that the elephants in question are fit for parading and that the 2012 Rules are strictly adhered to in letter and spirit.Case Details: VISHWA GAJA SEVA SAMITHI v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.|Diary No. 10227-2025Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Stays Kerala HC Order Barring Temples Not Registered With District Committees From Parading Elephants

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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