Chennai: Madras high court has directed the state forest department to not engage NGOs to treat elephants in its custody until further orders. A special bench of justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the interim order on a public interest writ moved by animal welfare activist S Muralidharan seeking direction to the department to cancel and withdraw permission granted to Wildlife SOS, an NGO, for operating its mobile veterinary clinic in Tamil Nadu and consequently direct govt to strengthen and establish its own comprehensive veterinary infrastructure and specialised mobile elephant healthcare facilities for the treatment of captive elephants under its jurisdiction.“In matters concerning Schedule I wildlife, particularly captive elephants, the state must maintain institutional independence by developing its own state-of-the-art veterinary hospitals, mobile treatment units, diagnostic facilities and trained veterinary personnel rather than depending upon private organisations whose statutory status or functioning may itself be the subject of dispute,” said the petitioner.In these circumstances, the permission granted by the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden to Wildlife SOS deserves to be withdrawn until the competent authorities verify compliance with all statutory requirements and satisfy themselves regarding the legal eligibility of the organisation to undertake such activities, he added.
