A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or a special investigation team (SIT) into the recent death of a pregnant wild elephant after eating a fruit filled with firecrackers in Kerala’s Silent Valley Forest.
The plea, filed by Delhi-based lawyer Avadh Bihari Kaushik, alleged that prima facie it appeared to be a “calculated and organised” racket to kill elephants. Referring to media reports, the plea said that in April this year another elephant, found with mouth injuries in the Pathanapuram forest range in Kollam district, had died. The court was requested to call for the entire record of the cases regarding killing of elephants in Kerala and in other States.
The petition sought a directive for transferring the case of pregnant elephant’s killing and similar incidents to the CBI “under the constant monitoring” of the top court. Alternatively, the court should direct setting up of an SIT, headed by a former judge of the apex court. It said the SIT should examine the issue on a larger scale and suggest proper mechanisms to end the killings and punish the culprits.
The plea said that the Government of India had launched Project Elephant in 1992 to support the States in protecting the animals, their habitats, and migration corridors. “However, all the efforts by the Central and State governments have failed since the poachers are more committed to their job than the agencies appointed to nab them,” the petition said. According to a preliminary post-mortem report, the elephant had severe wounds in its oral cavity, most likely sustained by the burst of explosives in her mouth, due to which she could not eat for nearly two weeks leading to her collapse in a river and drowning.