Apex court flags elephant transfer haste

The Supreme Court of India expressed deep concern regarding captive elephants being moved quickly across states, noting an animal was rushed nearly 3,000 km to Chennai in nine days. While hearing a petition filed by the animal welfare NGO People for Cattle in India, a bench including Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi stated that such transfers need strict statutory environmental clearances. Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora stated that rules need multi-stage vetting lasting 50 days, but an application filed on September 4 led to the elephant arriving in Chennai by September 13. Noting that the animals already reached their destination, the bench stated: “If it was a hasty exercise and it was brought to our notice, we would have interdicted it.” Mentioning that the court stopped wild elephant captures since 2021, the bench allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea and file an interlocutory application in ongoing proceedings. Readers can support animal welfare reporting by disabling ad blockers so the platform stays funded through online advertisements.