Closing contempt proceedings in a case pertaining to the relocation of an elephant Lakshmi wherein its ownership was claimed by an individual, the Delhi High Court Tuesday pointed to the Delhi government's status report observing that the elephant is "fit and healthy" and is being provided with "proper facilities". A division bench of Justices Manmohan and Mini Pushkarna referred to a status report filed by Deputy Conservator of Forests, Department of Forests and Wildlife in April, which states that the possession of the elephant was taken on September 18, 2019 by the department after ensuring multiple opportunities to the owner for its housing, which he failed to comply with. The affidavit states that the elephant was handed over to the Department of Forests and Wildlife, Government of Haryana for rehabilitation and care and was sent to the elephant rescue centre in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. The petitioner Yusuf Ali had filed the contempt plea for violation of an April 2019 order of the division bench of the high court which stayed the removal of the elephant from Ali's possession. The contempt plea alleged that in violation of the high court order, the forest department sent its officials on July 6, 2019 to "seize the elephants in question". Perusing the status report by the forest department, the bench orally said, "The elephant is in good hands. There is nothing left in this matter". It observed that a wildlife team of the Delhi government visited the elephant to inspect her as well as the housing facilities. The bench noted that as per the status report, the elephant was declared to be fit and healthy on the basis of physical appearance, feeding habits, gait size and other factors. The court also noted that Lakshmi was being housed in an area that has ample walking space, clean water, open shed etc, as per the guidelines for care and management of captive elephants under the Government of India. "Consequently, this court is of the view that no further orders are required to be called for in the present contempt petition. It is therefore closed, " the bench ordered. During the course of the hearing, Delhi government counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi said nothing remains in the matter and in case there is any dispute with regard to ownership of the elephant, the individual can approach the civil court. The bench also said that they had gone through the photographs in the status report and the elephant was in "good health". With respect to the appeal against a single judge's order, also filed by Ali, the high court orally asked Ali why he wanted to take the elephant back with him to a "small place" noting that "2 bigha" land is not enough for an elephant, after Ali's counsel said that he had land to keep the elephant. "You should have a heart for the elephant. You only want to exploit the animal for commercial purposes through the court process.The animal is being looked after, you should be happy," the bench orally said. After some arguments, the counsel for the petitioner said that they wished to withdraw the appeal which was permitted by the bench. Ali had appealed against a March 2019 order of a single judge of the high court which had upheld an order of the Chief Wildlife Warden, Delhi Government that had directed Lakshmi's surrender to the forest department after noting that she and five other elephants were "housed in any unhygienic condition which was wholly unsuitable for them".
