Guwahati: The Delhi High Court on Thursday stalled the relocation of a 48-year-old captive female elephant ‘Ranjitha’ from Assam to a temple in the national capital.
Hearing a plea by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) challenging the transfer of the captive elephant from Assam’s Jorhat to a temple at Sainik Farms in Delhi, the High Court said the elephant should not be moved from its current location until the court hears the matter again on November 28.
The FIAPO filed a petition after Maa Baglamukhi Temple atop a four-storey residential apartment in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash wanted to own an elephant it proposes to get from Assam. The temple had “earmarked” 1.5 acres in the Sainik Farm to keep the elephant.
The High Court directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to ensure compliance of the same.
The court observed that there was no clarity on the need and purpose of moving the animal from its present location.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedeala was informed that a large number of animals, including horses and camels, were sheltered at the facility owned by a religious trust, and spreading across 1.5 acres in the South Delhi’s Sainik Farms area.
The bench issued notice to Maa Baglamukhi Mandir, which has its registered address at Greater Kailash and plans to house the elephant at Sainik Farms.
Issuing notice to the Maa Baglamukhi Mandir Trust, the bench said, “Since the court has been informed that elephant Ranjitha has not started her travel to Delhi, we direct that she should not be moved from her place of residence. The union of India shall ensure that the direction is intimated to the relevant authorities and the same is complied with.”
Earlier in the day, the court asked the chief wildlife warden, Delhi, to visit the temple area and assess the living conditions, number of staff and animals over there.
On Thursday, the petitioner, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), submitted through its advocates Abir Phukan and Shibani Ghosh that the premises are “far from the natural habitat” of the elephant.
The court wondered if it was safe to subject the 48-year-old pachyderm to over a 2,000-kilometre road travel.
“Is she fit enough to travel so far? She is already 48 and the average age of female elephants is 60 years. Elephants require a huge space, they move alot. Unnecessarily, why do you want to confine the elephant here at a small place,” the bench said.
The Assam authorities and the chief wildlife warden, Delhi, had granted permission to move the elephant to the national capital.
Bharati Ramachandran, CEO of FIAPO, said the petitioners were grateful to the court for staying the transfer, which was “completely against the well-being” of the elephant.
ALSO READ: FIAPO opposes transfer of captive elephant ‘Ranjitha’ from Assam to Delhi
“The idea of bringing a living, breathing elephant from her lush green habitat of Assam to Delhi, to live in a concrete prison, under harsh artificial lights and air-conditioning, is unthinkable. The facility approved by the Delhi forest department to keep the elephant is more like a warehouse where a person would keep a car, not a living being,” she added.
