KOCHI: The Poora Premi Sangham, an association representing the festival enthusiasts in Thrissur, has submitted a complaint to Kerala High Court Chief Justice Nitin Madhukar Jamdar, on the order imposing restrictions on elephant parade. The association urged the chief justice to quash the impugned order issued by the division bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and P Gopinath and assign the matter to a bench free from perceived conflicts of interest.
The complaint said that the original case on the brutal killing of a dog was registered as a suo motu writ petition based on a letter written by Justice Jayasankaran Nambiar to the-then chief justice. The case was assigned to the bench of the initiating judge. This has raised concerns about judicial impartiality. The case expanded beyond its initial focus due to petitions from animal welfare groups seeking a ban on elephant parades at temple festivals.
According to the complaint, judges Nambiar and Gopinath were affiliated with a legal firm which represented animal rights groups in a writ petition filed in 2015.