KOCHI: Coming down heavily on the devaswom officer of Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple, Tripunithura, for violating court directives on the elephant parade, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday orally observed that the temple authorities can’t do anything they like in the name of religion.
“Only one breach is enough to cancel the festival permission granted but we are not doing it because many people come to attend the festival. Don’t make a mockery of it,” said a division bench comprising Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P.
The court directed devaswom officer, Raghuraman, to file an affidavit giving his explanation for the lapses on his part and showing cause as to why further action should not be initiated against him under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act and Rules.
The district collector informed the court that on the 4th day, that is on December 2 for the “Thrikketta” procession, they had knowingly made a complete violation of the Captive Elephant Rules and the High Court order. The elephants were paraded for five-and-a-half hours from 7.30 pm to 12.30 am, also kept the elephants closer at less than the mandatory 5m distance.
The devaswom did not maintain the mandatory 5m distance between the elephant and the flambeau (fire pole) and did not ensure the distance that had to be maintained between the elephant and the public.
The court warned the temple authorities and said: “You are aware of the provisions of the Travancore Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act. It enables the High Court to even remove the members. We will not hesitate to use that power also. It’s the safety of the people we are concerned about. It’s atrocious. You can’t do anything in the name of religion. You should show some concern for the millions of flocks there.”
The court made it clear that the directions have to be complied with.
The district collector also said that though the Ernakulam Social Forestry staff on duty had repeatedly asked the devaswom officer to comply with the court directive, he was not ready to obey it. Hence, a case has been registered at Ernakulam Social Forestry Range for the violation of the Captive Elephant Management Rule and High Court direction against the devaswom officer and the assistant commissioner of Cochin Devaswom Board.
Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy informed that there were violations during the parading and produced photographs to prove it.