Blitz Bureau
THE Supreme Court recently stayed the Kerala High Court directions imposing certain restrictions on the use of elephants during temple festivals.
A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and NK Singh ordered that any direction issued by the High Court contrary to the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2012 would remain stayed.
Calling the High Court’s directions ‘impractical,’ the top court of the country asked the High Court how it could frame rules, substituting the rule-making authority. The Bench passed the order on an appeal filed by the Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu Devaswoms, which hold the iconic Thrissur Pooram (festival) in Kerala.
Noting that the use of elephants in festivals was not an essential religious practice, the Bench of Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice P Gopinath of the Kerala High Court had issued certain directions regarding the use of elephants during temple festivals. It ordered that two elephants stand at least three meters apart, while the public should maintain a minimum distance of 8 meters from the elephant or any percussion display, and minimum 100 meters from any place where fireworks are used.
The elephants must get a minimum of 3-day rest between two exhibitions, it added. The temple devaswoms challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court saying that the directions were impractical and would bring the conduct of poorams (temple festivals) to a grinding halt.
