Calcutta HC Orders West Bengal To Stop Illegal Elephant Transfers, Calls Out Cruelty In Bihar
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Calcutta High Court directs West Bengal to prevent illegal elephant transport and retrieve three mistreated elephants from Bihar. Court slams violations under animal cruelty laws.
Kolkata: Today, on June 24, in a recent judgment, the Calcutta High Court ordered the West Bengal government to make sure that no elephants are taken illegally out of the State. This order came in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Cape Foundation in 2018.
The PIL claimed that nearly two dozen elephants were transported from West Bengal to other states without proper permissions.
The petition especially focused on three elephants that were shifted to Bihar and were reportedly being kept in very poor conditions.
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A Division Bench comprising Justice Ravi Kishan Kapur and Justice Arindam Mukherjee directed the West Bengal authorities to bring back these three elephants from Bihar.
The Court stated,
“The respondent no.2, being the Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), who is also the Chief Wildlife Warden, is directed to take all necessary and expeditious steps by interacting with the Appropriate Authorities of the State of Bihar, State of West Bengal and any other third party in order to expeditiously bring the above three elephants back to the State of West Bengal.”
The Court further instructed the State to take strict action at all its borders to prevent such illegal transportation of elephants in the future.
The Court directed,
“The State of West Bengal is also directed to take necessary and effective measures at their 14 borders to ensure that no such illegal or unlawful transportation of elephants takes place to outside the State of West Bengal.”
The judges considered the condition of the elephants in Bihar and expressed serious concern over the way they were being treated. The elephants were reportedly kept at an ashram in Bihar, where they were treated cruelly.
The Court observed,
“Similarly, the use of heavy chains and spiked bracelets to control them and tying three of their legs down for long hours on concrete floor is inter-alia in violation of the section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and unacceptable.”
It also took note of the use of sharp objects and the possibility of commercial exploitation of the animals.
The judges said,
“Any commercial exploitation of the three elephants is also cannot be ruled out and would be contrary to the Guidelines dated 8 January 2008.”
Because of these findings, the Court allowed the PIL and ordered that the elephants should be brought back to West Bengal without any further delay.
In this matter, the petitioners were represented by advocates Dhruba Ghosh, Biswanath Chatterjee, Ajeya Chowdhury, and Sobhan Kumar Pathak.
The ashram in Bihar and its mahant were represented by advocates Partha Sarathi Deb Barman, Anindya Sundar Das, Anup Dasgupta, Ratul Deb Banerjee, Sourojit Mukherjee, Syed Ali Afzal, and Suman Halder. Advocate Noelle Banerjee appeared for the State of West Bengal.
Case Title:
Cape Foundationa & Anr v State of West Bengal and Anr
Read Judgement:
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