MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday sought a response from the state government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking a direction to the authorities to safeguard the captive elephants in temples across the state.
A division bench of Justices R Subramanian and Sunder Mohan was hearing a plea filed by M Hariharan from Madurai. The petitioner pointed out that a 54-year-old elephant succumbed to burn injuries after a fire mishap at the Shanmuganathar Temple in Kundrakudi of Sivaganga district, and said that though elephants are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, there has been no serious effort to safeguard the captive elephants in temples.
If the provisions mentioned in the Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants Rules, 2011, are followed, such deaths could be prevented. We must ensure the rights of animals and birds are not affected, he said.
The court issued the direction and adjourned the case for further hearing.