Kerala High Court deplores plea to use elephant with paralysed trunk for parade

The Kerala High Court on Friday took strong objection to a plea seeking permission to parade an elephant with paralysed trunk at festivals and other commercial events and functions [In Re Bruno Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation v Union of India & Ors]..A Division Bench of Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Gopinath P questioned the lawyer representing the elephant's owner about his claims of being an 'elephant lover' after the lawyer said that the tusker Mangalamkunnu Umamaheswaran will not be subject to any cruelty. "We are elephant lover, we love elephants. We will not subject it to any cruelty and will treat it properly," the lawyer said."Do you want us to clap for you? We do not believe a word of what you are saying. Let us assume that it is partially paralysed and what are you standing here for? To get permission for taking the partially paralysed elephant for parade, right," the Court retorted.The Court also asked the lawyer how he would react if he is asked to draft and file a petition when he is laid up with fever. "If you have a fever and you are asked to file a writ (petition), what will you do," the Bench demanded.The Court said that elephants have become money-spinning tools for its owners who make money by parading them for festivals, inaugural ceremonies and like events. Celebrating such events by using pachyderms is no benchmark for 'elephant love', the Court said. "You are talking about using this elephant. What kind of argument is this, and you claim that you are an elephant lover? These elephants are money-spinning ventures, used for every festival, event and inauguration. You use them for one or another function and lakhs and lakhs are collected. People think this is the way to celebrate festivals. As long as this demand is there, there will be no lover of elephants," the Court remarked..The Court was hearing a suo motu case dealing with issues of animal welfare in the State.An animal welfare body named the Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy had filed an application in this case calling for steps to ensure the welfare of tusker named Mangalamkunnu Umamaheswaran.On April 12 this year, the Court had ordered that the elephant would not be permitted to be paraded in any festival or used for any commercial purpose without obtaining the Court's permission.At the time, the Court had also directed the Assistant Conservator of Forest of Palakkad, under whose custody the elephant is presently being kept on the Court's orders, to ensure that the tusker receives proper care..When the matter was heard on July 19, the elephant owner's counsel argued that the elephant was fit for parading and also produced a fitness certificate.However, Senior counsel Dhanya P Ashokan, who was representing the foundation, countered that the 51-year-old elephant was diagnosed with partial paralysis of its trunk. She maintained that the elephant should not be paraded due to the potential health risks involved.She also questioned the reliability of the fitness certificate and other reports produced by the custodian about the elephant's health.The foundation's counsel added that despite the elephant's partial paralysis which persisted for a decade, no records of its treatment had yet been submitted to assess the type of treatment being provided to the elephant..The Court then made scathing observations against the owner's counsel before directing advocate Nagaraj Narayanan, the Special Government Pleader (Forests), to ask the Assistant Conservator of Forests to submit a detailed report on the condition of the elephant within a month.The Court also ordered that the Assistant Conservator of Forests should be present before the Court on the next date of hearing.