SC can't render itself dysfunctional by hearing everything: CJI

Senior advocate CU Singh, appearing for an intervenor, at the outset raised the issue of deaths of captive elephants in Kerala, violation of rules and sought an urgent hearing.

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court cannot render itself dysfunctional by hearing everything, as there could be thousands of matters in country which could merit attention.

Presiding over a bench, comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, the CJI expressed displeasure over an application related to captive elephants in Kerala.

The Supreme Court should not be spread thin, the CJI said.

The bench told senior advocate C U Singh who raised the issue, “Why don't you approach the high court? SC should not be spread thin and this is not even a PIL, you are an intervenor.”

Singh, who mentioned the matter before the bench, submitted that over 130 captive elephants in Kerala had died between 2018 to 2022. 

He said till September 2023, 22 more deaths were recorded.

Singh said there is only one word, which is "sickness" and they are also not doing the postmortem, and elephants are being bought from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh "directly in the teeth of Wildlife Protection Act".

"Go to the high court, it is PIL at its pristine best. Anyone can intervene and join the bandwagon,” the bench said.

Advocate K Parmeshwar said every year the moment festival season in Kerala begins, these applications start coming before the court and seek to injunct the owners from using the elephants from being paraded. He asked the court to start an inquiry.

The CJI told Singh that he has raised a valid point but “there are 1,000 issues which merit attention, the Supreme Court should not render itself completely dysfunctional".

"You have high courts. These high courts consist of seasoned judges, they know the ground reality. They know the impact of passing an order. Disabling the use of elephants is a matter which also relates to local feelings. We do not know the ramifications of the order which we will pass. Judges of the high courts are suited to understand local conditions. They understand the context….they can deal with the matter at primary level, if they make egregious errors, we are here to correct those errors,” the bench said.

The CJI said, “How can we run a country like this, tomorrow, we will have something from Maharashtra, Karnataka. How do we deal with it? What is the role of the Supreme Court in the nation ... we are not to deal with these, you know, micromanagement of issues which arise all over the country." 

The court asked the intervenor to join when it would hear the main matter in December.