Published 19:22 IST, June 7th 2020
PIL filed in Supreme Court seeking CBI probe into death of pregnant elephant in Kerala
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court asking for a probe to be conducted by the CBI into the recent death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala
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A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court asking for a probe to be conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the recent death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala that died due to consumption of a pineapple containing firecrackers that attracted massive outrage throughout the country.
The petition filed by Delhi-based lawyer Avadh Bihari Kaushik states that the incident seems to be "calculated and organised" at the face of it, part of a larger racket to kill elephants. He states that earlier this year in April, a similar incident had come to light where an elephant was found with mouth injuries in the Pathanapuram Forest Range in Kollam, which eventually died. In addition to this, Kaushik states that the authorities have failed to protect the animals in the States.
Calls for SIT for countrywide probe
The petition further states that the Supreme Court should interfere in the matter and set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the instances of elephant killings throughout the country. The probe should be monitored by the Supreme Court and should be conducted by the CBI, Kaushik says.
The plea also seeks action to be taken against the people responsible for the death of the pregnant elephant to avoid such incidents in the future.
This petition comes to the Supreme Court even as the National Green Tribunal has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident. A notice has been issued to the Centre and the Kerala Government by the NGT bench of Justice K Ramakrishnan and Judicial Member Saibal Dasgupta. The NGT observed that the incident had occurred due to non-compliance of norms for the protection of wild animals, which exposed them to conflict with humans and put its life in danger.
Relying on media reports on the incident, the NGT observed,
"It is alleged in the report that a pregnant wild elephant in Silent Valley Forest had fallen victim to an act of human act of using explosive substance kept in a Pineapple which was consumed inadvertently by the wild elephant and which resulted in the death of the pregnant wild elephant and the fetus was also damaged on account of the same and the young one died without seeing the light of the day."
In this regard, the NGT said that some action has been taken by the Forest Department and other authorities including the Centre Government.
19:22 IST, June 7th 2020