Failure of states to respond to Centre's communication on elephant corridors irks SC

The Supreme Court today said it was "extremely unfortunate" that several states have not responded to two communications sent by the Centre on the issue of elephant corridors to curb human-animal conflict and reduce animal fatalities.

The apex court pulled up these states and noted that only three -- Kerala, West Bengal and Meghalaya -- have so far responded to the letters sent by the Centre in August and November last year.

"It is extremely unfortunate," a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said.

It asked the state, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Odisha and Tripura, to submit their responses to the Centre within two weeks.

The apex court also expressed its displeasure that counsel representing several states were not present in the courtroom during the hearing.

When the counsel appearing for Tamil Nadu said that they would respond to the Centre's letter, the bench said, "Why have you not responded? Do you want another Veerappan (notorious forest brigand)? Tamil Nadu is the hotbed of all this and you have not bothered to respond."