Madras High Court Clears Acquisition of Elephants by Tamil Nadu Temples

The Madras High Court on Wednesday set aside an order issued by a single judge that had prohibited temples and private individuals across Tamil Nadu from acquiring any new elephants. The court also set aside a related directive from the single judge instructing that a decision should be taken on shifting all captive elephants, both temple-owned and privately owned, to state government rehabilitation camps.

The ruling was delivered by the first bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan. The judges observed that existing subordinate legislation allows for such acquisitions, meaning the court-issued ban could not stand.

The bench pointed out that the Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2011, framed under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, permits the acquisition of captive elephants. Because these statutory rules provide for the practice, the bench ruled that the judicial prohibition issued by the single judge cannot be sustained.

Addressing the legal weight of administrative rules, the court stated, “A validly made subordinate legislation of this kind has the force of law and continues to bind until it is set aside by a competent forum in appropriate proceedings or amended by the rule-making authority itself.”

The bench further noted that a court cannot, while deciding an individual case, issue a direction that has the practical effect of overriding such a rule without the rules themselves being challenged and found to be beyond rule-making power or otherwise invalid.

The single judge had previously issued the prohibitive directions after relying heavily on an interim order passed in 2021 by the then first bench. That earlier 2021 interim order had directed that the state should ensure no further elephant is taken into captivity, except for the purpose of treating animals found unable to support themselves in the wild.