The High Court has permitted the forest department to shift a temple elephant presently being kept in Bannerghatta National Park to any place suitable for its healthy living.

The order follows an application from the department which said the pachyderm was suffering from a disorder and was behaving in a strange manner.

The elephant had been shifted to the Park as per an interim order of the court following a petition filed by CUPA challenging the possession certificate granted to Ayyappa Swamy temple of Jalahalli, Bangalore. The temple management had also petitioned against forest department’s action in taking custody of the elephant possessed by it for years.

Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri, while disposing of these two petitions, directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) to conduct a fresh inquiry into the alleged ill-treatment of elephant.