Frame SOP for handling captive jumbos, TN govt told

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered the state government to frame a standard operating procedure (SOP) for handling captive elephants, particularly temple elephants.

The first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan passed interim orders on a petition filed by the NGO Seva Trust.

To ensure complete harmonisation between the Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2011, and the Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024, respondents are directed to constitute a Joint Working Group comprising the chief wildlife warden, HR&CE commissioner, and expert veterinary officers, the order stated.

It also directed the working group to draft and submit a comprehensive SOP which shall touch upon pre-festival health and microchip verification, mandatory registration and prior clearance from the respective district-level committees, transportation protocols, mandatory decibel limits for loudspeakers/firecrackers, maintaining safe physical buffer zones between elephants and crowds and prohibiting the display of elephants in close proximity to pyrotechnics.

The bench said, “Elephants hold a significant place in the cultural, historical, and religious traditions of the state, where they participate in rituals and processions governed by ancient temple customs.”

However, it stated, the integration of captive animals into religious ceremonies cannot exist in a legal vacuum; scriptural traditions must strictly accord with constitutional values, statutory safeguards, and the fundamental duty enjoined upon the state and citizens under Article 51A(g) of the Constitution to show compassion to living creatures. It granted four weeks for framing the SOP and submitting it in the court.

Meanwhile, the bench dismissed a public interest litigation petition filed by animal rights activist Mirudula Gopalakrishnan seeking to examine the legality and other factors relating to transportation of five elephants from Assam to Tamil Nadu.

The bench pulled her up for filing the PIL just a day after submitting a representation to the authorities concerned.

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