News By: R Rajgopal
CJI wants local issue settled in HCs : “What is the role of the Supreme Court in the nation? Not to deal with micromanagement of issues. If the HC commits an egregious error, we are here. We will correct the error,” the CJI presiding over a three-judge bench remarked while hearing a matter related to captive elephants.
CJI wants local issue settled in HCs: The main petition on captive elephants in the light of the Wildlife Protection Act has been pending before the Court since 2014. However, more than two dozen Intervention Applications (IAs) have also been filed in the petition since then.
New Delhi, 10 Oct (City Times): (CJI wants local issue settled in HCs): Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday asserted that the Supreme Court’s role is not to micromanage issues that arise across the country and emphasized the need for the local issues to be settled in the High Courts.
“What is the role of the Supreme Court in the nation? Not to deal with micromanagement of issues. If the HC commits an egregious error, we are here. We will correct the error,” the CJI presiding over a three-judge bench remarked while hearing a matter related to captive elephants.
The main petition on captive elephants in the light of the Wildlife Protection Act has been pending before the Court since 2014. However, more than two dozen Intervention Applications (IAs) have also been filed in the petition since then.
One such IA filed by a native of Kerala came up before the bench which took exception to what it said is the “proliferation of IAs.
It is said 131 captive elephants had died in the state of Kerala between February and September 2022. A majority of them were under 50 years old.
But the bench pointed out that these are matters pertaining to states. ” We have a petition pan-India. We should make sure that the SC is not rendered dysfunctional because of this,” it said.
A lawyer said that elephants are being brought from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh directly in the teeth of the Wildlife Protection Act and, therefore, the SC intervention is sought.
However, the CJI said, “Look at this. This is now PIL at its pristine best. Anybody can intervene.”
Advocate K Parameshwar appearing for elephant owners said that 28 IA’s had been filed in the matter. “Essential prayer is to get all elephants away from captivity. Every year, the moment the festival season starts in Kerala, these IA’s start coming asking to injunct the owners from using the elephants,” he submitted.
To this, the CJI said, “My concern is this. We are not saying that what you (petitioners) point out does not deserve (consideration). But there are 1,000 issues which merit attention. The SC should not render itself completely dysfunctional. “You have HCs which consist of some seasoned judges. They know the ground reality. They also know the impact of passing an order disabling the use of elephants,” the CJI remarked.
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