HC: don’t use crackers directly on elephants
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The Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Forest Department to not use firecrackers on elephants to chase them again into forests since there may be all the time an opportunity of the pachyderms getting injured.
Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy issued the path in a case filed by the People for Cattle in India, complaining concerning the remedy meted out to an elephant which strayed into Coimbatore from Kerala final yr.
Petitioner’s counsel Kaushik N. Sharma informed the court docket that the ‘makhna’ from Kerala had entered the forest space in Coimbatore final August after struggling extreme accidents in its mouth after biting a coconut or a fruit laden with explosives.
Accusing Forest Department officers of not darting the elephant and offering it the mandatory medical remedy, he mentioned the animal was chased into the forests by throwing crackers. It ultimately died at Marapallam, in Kerala, on September 9.
He needed customary working procedures (SOP) to be laid down by the Forest Department for the remedy of injured elephants sooner or later. On the opposite hand, Additional Government Pleader (Forests) S. Prabhu informed the court docket that an SOP was already in place to deal with such animals.
Denying all fees levelled by the petitioner, the AGP mentioned the SOP was adopted scrupulously within the case of the makhna, and the animal was monitored from August 27 to September 6. It was additionally offered meals and medicines however it couldn’t eat them attributable to accidents in its mouth.
In a match of rage, the pachyderm began transferring into human habitations. When it was about to wreck a fuel cylinder and injure itself extra, Forest Department officers used the normal methodology of bursting crackers to chase it again into the forest, the AGP mentioned. Though an SOP was in place, at instances officers should be given the latitude to take different measures as per the bottom state of affairs, he mentioned.
Accepting his plea, the judges closed the case with a path to the Department to comply with the SOP, with latitude. They mentioned officers may take measures, on a case-to-case foundation. Insofar because the use of crackers was involved, the judges mentioned they shouldn’t be used directly on the animals.