Karnataka High Court Initiates Suo Moto PIL Over Repeated Incidents Of Elephant Deaths Due To Electrocution

The Karnataka High Court on Friday took suo-motu cognizance of a newspaper report pointing to the repeated incidents of elephant deaths due to electrocution or other unnatural reasons.

A division bench of Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind said, “The successive and repeated incidents of the death of Elephants in the State of Karnataka in different areas due to electrocution or for other unnatural reasons is a matter of serious worry. The report reflects that incidents take place due to lack of diligence on part of authorities concerned. There would be no gain saying that elephants and other wild animals have the right to care and safety inside the sanctuary or outside. Forest and other authorities bear a statutory duty on this court."

As per the news report, one elephant Ashwathama is the latest victim who died due to electrocution in Mysuru, allegedly due to carelessness of the authorities. That apart, one elephant death has  been recorded from Chikkamagaluru and two deaths due to electrocution in Madikeri.

Court said Ashwathama's case is taken as a representative case to invokes its suo-motu power under Article 226 and add the following authorities as respondents: 1) Ministry of Environment and Forest, 2) Karnataka Chief Secretary and 3) State Secretary of Department of Environment and Forest.

The court has called upon the above authorities to place before it the following details:

1: What steps and measures are taken for ensuring the safety of life of elephants in the state of Karnataka and other wildlife cases?

2: In light of repeated deaths of elephants reported, what are the steps proposed to curb and prevent such incidents of unnatural death?

3: What is statutory machinery activated by the authorities in this regard?

4: What is the mechanism adopted for ensuring safety of wild elephants in sanctuary areas as well as outside sanctuary areas?

5: How do the authorities fix the liability of officers when such deaths occur?

The matter is now listed on July 2.