Karnataka High Court takes suo motu cognisance of unnatural death of elephant Ashwathama

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday suo motu initiated a PIL petition on the unnatural death of 38-year-old Dasara elephant Ashwathama, which died at its camp in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve on June 11, suspected to be due to electrocution.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind passed the order by taking cognisance of the death of Ashwathama based on newspaper reports, which also referred to unnatural death of elephants in Chikkamagaluru and other parts of the State due to electrocution or other reasons. The Bench ordered notice to both the Central and State governments. The Bench appointed senior advocate Puthige R. Ramesh as amicus curiae to assist the court in this proceeding.

“The incidents of repeated and successive death of elephants in Karnataka due to electrocution or for other unnatural reasons is a matter of worry. The newspaper reports reflects that the incident took places due to lack of care and diligence on the part of the authorities concerned,” the Bench noted in its order.

Details sought

The Bench directed the government to submit details such as what steps and measures were taken to ensure the safety of life of elephants and other wildlife assets in the State and what steps are proposed to curb and prevent the incidents of unnatural deaths in the light of repeated deaths of elephants.

Also, the Bench wanted to know what was the statutory machinery activated by the authorities in this regard, what mechanism was adopted for ensuring safety of elephants and other wildlife within and the outside of the sanctuary, and how the authorities fixed liabilities of officers when such death of elephants occurs.

“Whether inside the sanctuary or outside the sanctuary, the elephants and other wildlife would need care. Their safety is to be ensured at all costs by keeping the vigil and by taking appropriate measures. The forest and other authorities owe statutory duty in this regard. Their exposure to electrocution or to the other unnatural causes of death have to be prevented,” the court observed.