ORDER :

PRAYER : Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C, praying to call for the records of the impugned Charge Sheet in C.C.No.224 of 2022 on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate, Thirumangalam, Madurai District and quash the same, insofar as the Petitioner is concerned.

This Criminal Original Petition has been filed to quash the Charge Sheet in C.C.No.224 of 2022 on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate, Thirumangalam, Madurai District.

2. The Petitioner is arrayed as accused in the case filed by the Forest Department. The charge, as per the Respondent, is that the Petitioner, who is the first accused in the case, was found within the jurisdiction of Usilampatti Forest Division within Thirumangalam Municipality Limit on Kamaraj Street in the compound of Arulmighu Patrakali Mariamman Thirukovil temple festival. The first accused, who is the owner of the domesticated female Elephant by name, Lakshmi, aged about 46, along with the accused 2 and 3 brought the Elephant for temple festival without obtaining prior permission of the Forest Officials under Section 48-A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby the accused 1 to 3 have committed the offence under Section 48-A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 r/w Rule 2-4(5) and 9(1) of Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2011 and the Annexure-1 don/s S.No.2, 4, 7 and 30.

3. The learned Judicial Magistrate, Thirumangalam, Madurai District had taken the case on file in C.C.No.224 of 2022. The Petitioner had been granted certificate of ownership by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, Tamil Nadu. The Petitioner is owning the Elephant for the past 20 years. In 2013, there was a ban by the Central Government not to take the captive Elephants to festivals, film shooting and commercial purposes. Against this ban, a batch of Writ Petitions were filed before the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court. All the cases were transferred to the Principal Seat at Madras. The Principal Bench of Madras High Court had disposed of all the Writ Petitions by a common order dated 19.01.2022. In that order, it had been stated as follows:-

“6............However, in the year 2015, the ban was lifted and as per the instructions given by the Central Government, the State Wild Life Authorities, can consider such application to be made by the owners of the Elephant to transport the Elephant for a limited period for attending a particular temple or religious function and accordingly, not only to the petitioners, to several such owners of various Elephants, such kind of permissions are being given from 2015 onwards. Therefore, if at all the petitioners have got any grievance with regard to this and if they makes any application to that effect in accordance with the said rules, certainly that application would also be considered and in accordance with the procedure contemplated under the Rule, such kind of permission also would be given to the petitioners, he contended.

7. I have considered the said submissions made by the learned counsel appearing for both sides, especially the submission made by the learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.

8.In view of the said submission made by the learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents, who on instructions, submitted that, in view of the ban having been lifted from 2015 onwards, now such kind of permissions are being given to the owners of the Elephant for transporting the Elephant for the purpose of attending the temple festival or marriage or religious festivals, therefore, the petitioners may not have any grievance as of now.

9.In view of the aforestated, this Court feel that, by recording the said stand taken by the respondents, these writ petitions can be disposed of, as it is open to the petitioners to make necessary application in format, by paying the necessary fee for getting such permission for transporting the Elephan