Extending the jurisdiction of a committee under the Gujarat Public Trust Act, 1950, for overseeing wildlife welfare across India serves public interest.

JUDGMENT :

KRISHNA MURARI, J.

1. The PIL petitioner has filed this Miscellaneous Application seeking clarification of the order dated 01.08.2022 passed by this Court dismissing his SLP (C) No. 12246 of 2022 filed against an order dated 06.06.2022 passed by the Karnataka High Court, dismissing his WP (PIL) No. 10688/2022, wherein he had, inter-alia, sought directions from the State of Karnataka to restrict transfer/sale/gift/entrustment of wild and captive elephants within the State of Karnataka to private individuals and in particular, to respondent no. 3, the Radha Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust.

2. By means of the present Miscellaneous Application, the PIL petitioner has made a prayer to clarify the order dated 01.08.2022 passed by this Court to the effect that the directions of the High Court and this Court were confined only to population of elephants exclusively within the State of Karnataka and are not applicable to any other State or Territory.

3. The clarifications sought by the PIL petitioner has been vehemently opposed on behalf of respondent no. 3. It is contended that from time to time various Writ Petitions in the nature of Public Interest Litigation have been filed against respondent no. 3 and other persons acting with non profit philanthropic noble object of taking care of abandoned or rescued elephants and other animals. The main ground of challenge in these PILs has been that it is the responsibility of the State to take care of such abandoned or rescued elephants and other animals, which should not be abdicated in favour of the private respondent no. 3, the Trust.

4. Finding no merits in the PILs all of them have been dismissed. Reference has been made to the following PILs which have been dismissed by various High Courts:

(i) Judgment and order dated 07.11.2022 passed by the High Court of Tripura at Agartala, in WP (Civil) PIL No. 17 of 2022 filed by one Smt. Sudipa Nath.

(ii) Judgment and order dated 25.01.2023 passed by the Gauhati High Court in PIL No. 6 of 2023 filed by one Kaustuvmani Kakati.

(iii) Judgment and order dated 16.08.2022 passed by this Court in WP (Civil) 547 of 2022, Kanhaiya Kumar vs. Central Zoo Authority and Another.

(iv) Judgment and order dated 08.08.2022 passed by this Court in WP (Civil) 540 of 2022, Swetab Kumar vs. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Others.

(v) Judgment and order dated 10.08.2022 passed by Madras High Court in Writ Petition No. 15230 of 2022, A. Viswanathan vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Others.

5. It is further submitted that respondent no. 3 is a registered public charitable trust under the Gujarat Public Trust Act, 1950 and the object of the trust is to promote welfare of animals and to establish paraphernalia for the welfare of animals in need to carry out the object of the trust. Respondent no. 3 is neither availing any Government funds, nor generates any profits by exhibition of animals to sustain its object. It is also submitted that respondent no. 3 is engaged in rescue and rehabilitation of wild/captive elephants, who are in need of long term care due to injury/old age, abusive captivity, such as circus, street begging, etc. It is categorically stated during the course of arguments that respondent no. 3 is not a breeding centre and is in no way making any profits commercially in any manner from the rescued and rehabilitated animals.

6. It is also submitted on behalf of respondent no. 3 that such frivolous Public Interest Litigations filed by busy bees in different High Courts of the country, disrupt the functioning of not only respondent no. 3 but such other charitable institutions engaged in rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife, while causing unnecessary drain on their resources which could otherwise be used by them for the noble cause of welfare of the rescued animals.

7. Our attention has also been invited to a reasoned and detailed judgment dated 07.11.2022 passed by the Tripura High Court in Writ Petition (Civil-PIL) No. 17 of 2022 seek