Kerala High Court To Frame Guidelines For Prohibiting Cruelty To Elephants Paraded For Temple Festivals And Functions

The Division Bench of Justice A.K.Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P. orally directed all the stakeholders like elephant owners, NGO's, temple committee and others to submit their suggestions before the Court to frame guidelines before the next festival season.

The Court orally said, “On November 4^th, we will draft the guidelines and before that whatever suggestions has to come must come. We will draft the guidelines and till new rules come, the parading of the elephant will be subject to these guidelines.”

The Court was considering a batch of writ petitions dealing with prohibiting the cruelty against captive elephants in Kerala.

The Court orally stated that since festival season is coming, guidelines must be put in place to avoid cruelty against elephants paraded during the festivals and other functions in temples. The Court orally added that the practice of parading and exhibiting elephants in festivals and functions is not based on customs, but has a commercial aspect to it.

“It is man's ego that he parades the idol of his Lord on top of the land's largest animal walking on the planet. Thank God the Blue Whale was not being capable of being paraded. we would have paraded that also if that was possible…Elephants would have been out, it would have been blue whales”..said the Court orally. 

The court stated that elephants must be given adequate rest periods between festivals. It stated that there must be sufficient space inside the temples or venues where the elephants are paraded so that there is a minimum distance between elephants and that there is no overcrowding.

The Court also emphasized that elephants being paraded must receive a proper diet. Additionally, it stated that there should be adequate facilities for the elephants if they are to be paraded or exhibited.

The court further stated that it is extreme cruelty to tie elephants' feet together tightly and to force them to stand in one spot for exhibition purposes.

“They are tied together so closely that they cant't shift weight to other leg. Just imagine, can a human being whose feet are tied together with anything stand for more than five minutes. Human beings can't, just imagine these huge elephants being made to stand for hours with both its front feet is practically tied together….” said the Court orally.

As such, the matter has been posted to November 04.

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

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