Arikomban issue: Govt will act as per court verdicts, says Kerala Forest Minister

Wildlife officials have been asked to find out a new place for the jumbo and submit a report in this regard

The Kerala government on Tuesday made it clear that it has the responsibility to act in accordance with the verdicts of the judiciary and that a suitable location to relocate the rogue elephant 'Arikomban' would be identified soon.

Wildlife officials have been asked to find out a new place for the same and submit a report in this regard, Forest Minister A K Saseendran told reporters here.

His statement comes a day after the Supreme Court had refused to entertain the appeal of the state government against the High Court order asking it to translocate the tusker to the Parambikulam tiger reserve in Palakkad district.

Also Read | SC to hear plea of Kerala against HC order asking it to relocate rice-eating tusker to Parambikulam reserve

The state government wanted the rice-eating elephant to be sent to a training centre, noting it had killed seven people and destroyed several homes, but the apex court observed that the Kerala High Court had given a "reasoned" order based on the views of the expert committee.

"As a government, we have the responsibility to act in accordance with the verdicts of the judiciary. The government will not backtrack from that responsibility. A new location should be identified. Directions have already been given to the wildlife officials to find out a suitable place and report the same," Saseendran said.

If they submit the report by tomorrow, it would be examined thoroughly and after informing the High Court further action would be taken, he said, adding that the issue cannot be prolonged indefinitely.

On Monday, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala had taken note of the urgent mentioning of the appeal by the state government and decided to hear it yesterday itself.

After hearing the matter for some time, the bench dismissed the appeal of the state government saying the recommendation to relocate the elephant was made by a committee of experts.

On April 12, the Kerala High Court refused to review its decision to translocate the rice-eating tusker to the Parambikulam tiger reserve.