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2016 Supreme(SC) 1253
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Dipak Misra, Shiva Kirti Singh, JJ.
Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre and Others - Petitioners
Versus
Union of India and Others - Respondents
I.A. 19 & 21 of 2015 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 743 of 2014
Decided On : 29-03-2016
Advocate Appeared:
For the Petitioners: Ms. Aparna Bhat
For the Respondents: Ranjit Kumar, Ms. Movita, Akhila J., S.N. Terdal, V. giri, K. Parameshwar, Ajit Sharma, Ankolekar Gurudatta, A. Raghunath, Balaji Srinivasan, B. Balaji, Muthuvel Palani, Arjun Bobde, Ms. Richa Relhan, Ms. Sanyya Pawar
For the Punjab : Sanchar Anand, Apoorv Singhal, Devendra Singh, Gopal Singh, Ms. Vimla Sinha, Manish Kumar, R. Basant, Jogy Scaria, Ms. Beena Victor, K. Rajeev, Ms. Vishnu Shankar Jain, Ms. Mukti Chowdhary, Ms. Pragya Baghel, Gp. Capt. Karan Singh Bhati, T. Gopal, Dillip Kumar Nayak, Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Sidharth Luthra, Ms. Supriya Juneja, Aditya Singla, Ms. Ambika Nijjar, Ms. Mehak Jaggi, Viraj Gandhi, Gurudatta Ankalekar, Ms. J. Shreshta
For the Haryana : Anil Grover, Sanjay Kumar Visen, Satish Kumar
For the Nagaland : Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, Edward Belho, Amit Kumar Singh, Vivek Rorigues, Shivraj Gaonkar, Ms. Mahalakshmi Pavani, Ms. Satyasiddiqui, Ankolekar Gurudatta, Ms. Shiva Vijaya Kumar, Mukesh Kumar Singh, S. Kumar
The main legal point established in the judgment is the apparent violations of animal protection laws and guidelines, including the illegal ownership of elephants, lack of transportation permission, illegal sale of wildlife, inadequate housing and care, and use of prohibited restraints.
Headnote:
Animal Welfare Board of India - Violation of Animal Protection Laws - Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 - Summary: The court discussed apparent violations of animal protection laws and guidelines, including the illegal ownership of elephants, lack of transportation permission, illegal sale of wildlife, inadequate housing and care, and use of prohibited restraints. The court also highlighted recommendations for seizing the elephants, initiating legal actions, providing veterinary care, and taking disciplinary actions against erring officials.
Fact of the Case:
The Animal Welfare Board of India submitted a report mentioning 10 apparent violations of animal protection laws and guidelines by Tropical Spice Plantation (TSP) related to the ownership, transportation, sale, care, and treatment of elephants.
Finding of the Court:
The court directed the concerned parties to file replies and objections to the report, and raised fundamental issues regarding the ownership and upkeep of elephants, and the authorities responsible for regulating their treatment and use.
Issues: Fundamental issues raised by the court include the legality of keeping elephants after the Act has come into force, the rules governing the upkeep of elephants, and the authorities responsible for regulating the health, upkeep, and treatment of elephants.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the apparent violations of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 by TSP, and discussed the recommendations for seizing the elephants, initiating legal actions, providing veterinary care, and taking disciplinary actions against erring officials.
Final Decision: The court issued notices on the relevant applications and directed the concerned parties to file replies and objections within specified timelines.
ORDER :
I.A. No.19 of 2015
In pursuance of our order dated 02.02.2016, the Animal Welfare Board of India was required to file the report. It is submitted by Mr. C.A. Sundaram, learned senior counsel appearing for the Animal Welfare Board of India that the report will be filed after serving a copy thereof on the counsel for the States and on the learned counsel who represent the two resorts, namely, "Tropicl Spice Plantation" and "Jangal Book". Needless to say, the same has to be served on learned counsel for the petitioner also.
2. Though we have directed copies of the report to be furnished to the contesting parties, we think it appropriate to refer to a part of the report. The Animal Welfare Board of India has mentioned 10 aspects which pertain to apparent violations of animal protection laws and guidelines. Thereafter, it has given certain recommendations. The violations which are 10 in number read as follows :-
"1. TSIP does not have the legal ownership certificate for any of the three elephants in their custody. For male elephant Babu, the ownership certificate was issued on 05/11/2008 in the name of Mr. Mahant Ramkishan Dasji, Dist. Rajkot (Gujarat) (Annexure-2), for female elephants Laxmi (Annexure-3) and Manki (Annexure-4), the ownership certificates were issued on 22/01/1999 in the name of Mr. N.A. Zacharia, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Port Blair and 30/11/2002 in the name of Mr. Man Singh Shanti Kunwarsen, Dist. Chappra (Bihar) respectively. As per law, ownership can be issued only within 30 days of enactment of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 or during the amnesty period (i.e. 18 April 2003 to 18-10-2003, when the central government issued declaration of Wild Life Stock Rules, 2003). All ownerships issued on date other than these (30 days and 180 days) are apparently illegal. This is an apparent violation of Section 40(1) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 which mandates within 30 days of enactment of Act wildlife should be declared, Section 41, under which Chief Wild Life Warden (CWLW) should conduct an enquiry after declaration of an animal, and Section 42, under which ownership certificate has to be issued (after meeting the provisions of Section 40 & 41). Since these three elephants do not have a valid ownership certificate, so they seems to have been captured from the wild and traded illegally which is an apparent violation of section 9, that prohibits hunting/capture of schedule I animals such as elephants.
2. TSP failed to produce appropriate transportation permission for transporting Laxmi and Maniki. This is in apparent violation of Section 48 - A of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 which states that "no person shall accept any captive elephants for transportation except after exercising due care to ascertain that permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden or any other officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf has been obtained for such transportation."
3. All the three elephants under the custody of the TSP were obtained apparently illegally as none of the gift deeds had been vetted by/registered with the CWLW of the state which had issued the ownership certificates. Moreover, female elephant Maniki was sold by Mr. Man Singh and Mr. Shanti Ram to Mr. Kunwant Sen for an amount of Rupees Seven Lakh twenty five thousand on 20 October 2007 (Annexure-4). As this was a commercial deal, it is an apparent violation of the Section 43 of Wild Life (Protection Amendment Act, 2002 which prohibits the sale of wildlife.
4. As TSP is using all three elephants for tourist rides but none of the elephants in their custody are registered with Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) as per the provisions of Performing Animals (Registration) Rules (PARR), 2001, the PARR, 2001 is apparently being violated. No necessary permissions have been obtained from AWBI under this rule. The order of the Hon'ble High court of Kerala in W.P. (C) No. 10424 of 2014, Idukki SPCA v. State of Kerala & others states "However, they (F
