NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court cannot render itself dysfunctional by hearing every other issues as there could be thousands of matters in country which could merit attention.
Leading a bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, the CJI expressed displeasure over an application related to captive elephants in Kerala.
"What is the role of the Supreme Court in the nation, not to deal with micromanagement of issues which arise all over the country,” the CJI said.
Senior advocate C U Singh who raised the issue through an interlocutory application.
"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,” the bench told him.
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 recorded deaths which is startlingly high rate.
Singh said 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.
Opposing the plea, advocate K Parmeshwar said every year the moment the 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 initiate an inquiry.
The CJI told Singh that he has raised a valid point but “there are 1000 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 not to deal with micromanagement of issues which arise all over the country”.
The court said when the main matter would be heard in December, the applicant may be heard.
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