Kochi: In a relief to the state government, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday allowed it more time to find a suitable place for shifting rogue wild tusker Arikomban.
Agreeing to the government's demand for more time, the HC asked it to monitor the elephant till an appropriate region is found for translocation.
Forest Minister AK Saseendran had earlier stated that the government will implement the court directive on the translocation of rogue tusker Arikomban in Chinnaknal without much delay. Forest department officials have been asked to find out a new place for the same and submit a report in this regard, the minister said.
"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 forest officials to find out a suitable place and report the same," Saseendran said.
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.
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.
On April 12, the Kerala High Court had refused to review its decision to translocate the rice-eating tusker to the Parambikulam tiger reserve.
'Government has to consider people's concerns'
Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran said that while courts could act only in accordance with the law, the government had to take into consideration the concerns and views of the public.
That was one of the reasons that the Forest Department, for the first time in its history, created forest friendly forums which held meetings at 14 centres in the state and came up with good recommendations with regard to human-animal conflicts, he said.
While he denied knowledge about any alternative site for translocating Arikomban, the minister said that wherever the tusker would be moved, there would be a possibility of protests there and "the government cannot forcibly impose its decisions on the people".
"So we will inform the court and move forward according to its direction," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
