If Use Of Elephants Isn't Mandated By Scripture, Then It Isn't Essential Religious Practice, Orally Says Kerala High Court

The Division Bench of Justice A.K.Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P, last week had issued certain guidelines for preventing cruelty against elephants paraded for festivals and other functions.

The Court was considering an application filed by the Devaswom Coard to modify its 3 meter distance rule for parading Elephants at the Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple in Thripunithura.

The Court stated that the parading of elephants is not an essential religious practice but rather a ritual. It further emphasized that temple authorities cannot seek exemption from the 3-meter distance rule between Elephants, which was implemented to ensure proper regulation.

Court stated orally, “What is essential religious test? It is something without which the religion will not survive...In your case, fundamentally what is wrong is that use of Elephants itself in religious ceremonies is not an essential religious practice. But we will forget that for the time being, ultimately any religion will sustain by the faith of the people, people may want to see this, so you can have it, it is basically a cosmetic thing for the purposes of keeping the religion fervour and for keeping the faith of the people…If the use of elephants is not mandated by any scripture, then it is not an essential religious practice. We are not saying not to have elephants. For sustaining the faith of the people and the religious fervour, it is fine to have elephants, but you have to substantiate that a distance less than 3 metres is justifiable”

The Court stated that the 3-meter distance rule between Elephants was made mandatory for the purpose of ensuring the safety of people attending the festivals. The Court stated that captive Elephants paraded for festivals are under great stress and could become aggressive and hard to control if proper safety precautions are not maintained. The Court found that there is sufficient expert and scientific evidence to state that a 3-meter distance is the minimum distance to be maintained between two Elephants.

The Court stated that there are no rules mandating that a particular number of Elephants must be paraded for festivals. It stated that the number of Elephants accommodated would depend upon the facilities and space available in the Temple. The Court thus did not entertain the argument put forth by the Devaswom Board that there must be at least 15 Elephants paraded and that the 3-meter distance rule between them was unnecessary.

“The whole purpose of this distance rule is to contain the number of Elephants in a festival…What is this practise that you are talking about? How is it an essential religious practise? Will a religion collapse?...Essential Religious practise is something without which the religion will not exist…we refuse to believe that a religion like Hinduism is so fragile that it will collapse without the presence of Elephant.”

The Court stated that all the Temple authorities must comply with the 3-meter distance rule unless it is proven to be arbitrary. The Court stated that the guidelines issued by it will have to be mandatorily followed by authorities for parading Elephants for festivals.

Case Number: WP(C) 31520/ 2024 & Connected Cases

Case Title: In Re Captive Elephants V Union Of India & Connected Cases