The court affirmed the shared responsibility of the State and citizens for wildlife protection, mandating rehabilitation efforts based on expert assessments and the establishment of dedicated rescue facilities.

1. This writ petition was filed as a public interest litigation in January, 2016 highlighting the then unfortunate situation of a wild caught elephant which is now at the Achanakmar Tiger Reserve, Bilaspur, essentially under the control of the Forest Department officials. The plea was that the said elephant who has, by now, earned the pet name ' Sonu', should not be perennially kept in captivity leading to its domestication, but should be permitted to live in the wild, in its choice.

2. We have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned Assistant Solicitor General and the learned counsel for the State.

3. A perusal of the different earlier orders in this Writ Petition would show that the elephant ' Sonu'stood accused of having killed five persons and injured another and of having also damaged homesteads and crops. This was the premise on which he was brought under captivity to resolve the humananimal conflict. The involvement of the Animal Welfare Board of India and the authorities of the Wildlife Department of the State of Chhattisgarh, including those having control over the reserve forest and sanctuaries, ultimately led this Court to issue requisite directions for medical examination, treatment and rehabilitation of ' Sonu'. During the course of this exercise, at one stage it was brought to the notice of this Court that the situation has become congenial for the safe release of 'Sonu' free into the forest, to have its own way. For various reasons minuted in the proceedings, it was then ordered that it would not be appropriate to let ' Sonu' out of captivity at that point of time. With the passage of time when the matter was considered on 03.07.2017 i.e. nearly 1 1/2 years after the institution of this Writ Petition, an order was minuted to pave way for reassessment of the health status of ' Sonu' to consider whether he should be released free from human control, into the wild. The relevant portion of that order reads as follows: -

'We have seen the different materials and also the various orders issued in this case. Primarily this matter relates to the condition of an elephant in relation to which the Animal Welfare Board of India (hereinafter ' AWBI') has issued a report following the inspection dated 31.01.2016. The recommendations made at paragraph VII in that report contains, among other things, the proposal that AWBI may advise the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and the Chief Wild Life Warden (PCCF & CWLW), Chhattisgarh that once the wounds are healed and the elephant is physically fit for travel as certified by an experienced elephant veterinarian, he should be immediately rehabilitated to a pre - identified natural habitat which is home for wild elephants.

The matter is predominantly within the domain of those who have the expertise to assess whether a particular elephant could be released to such wild habitat. Hence, having in mind the different orders issued by this Court we request Dr. Rajeev TS, then Assistant Professor and Project Leader, Centre for Studies on Elephant, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala to inspect the elephant in relation to which the earlier inspection was conducted on 31.01.2016 to ascertain whether it is appropriate now to rehabilitate the said elephant at any preidentified natural habitat. We hope to get a report in this regard from Dr. Rajeev TS within a period of three weeks from today. The State of Chhattisgarh will provide him Business Class plane transit as also other perks and expenditures as would be available to Class - I Officers.

Requisite action in this regard shall be taken by the competent among the