Capturing ‘Arikkomban’, which has been creating panic among people, would do more harm than good, a division bench consisting of Justices A K Jayashankaran Nambiar and Gopinath P said.
The Court said that it is aware of the instances of cruelty to captive elephants in the State, and it doesn’t want to add more elephants to the long list of hapless ‘converts’ as it also violates the fundamental duty under Article 51A (g) of our Constitution to protect wildlife and have compassion for living creatures.
“In the meanwhile, however, we are quite clear in our minds that the balance of convenience would lie in protecting the interests of the wild pachyderm against immediate capture and the prospect of a life in captivity. We are persuaded to hold so because we have come across various instances of cruelty to captive elephants in the State, and also seen the deplorable state in which elephants are held captive in various locations across the State. Adding another wild elephant to that list of hapless ‘converts’ would run counter to our fundamental duty to protect wildlife and have compassion for living creatures, as envisaged under Art.51A (g) of our Constitution,” the order said.
The Court, therefore, appointed the committee after hearing arguments for and against capturing the pachyderm which has been in the news for straying into human settlements, sometimes along with his herd, in the hill station of Munnar.
The bench said that the objective should be to strike a balance between the conflicting interests of the residents of the localities concerned and the elephants in the area.
Source: Barandbench
