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 whic