HC sets aside govt order rejecting plea to release elephant

Paving the way for the return of an elephant to its master, Delhi High Court has set aside an order of the city government dismissing the owner's plea to release the pachyderm and asked the authorities to have a fresh look.
The female elephant, Champa, is currently in the custody of the Elephant Rescue Centre at Mathura in Uttar Praesh where it was sent in June 2012 after it met with an accident on the Noida Expressway.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher set aside the order of the Lt Governor and Chief Wild Life Warden and sent the matter back to the wild life authority for fresh consideration.

The court observed that the petitioner, Shaukat Ali, was not issued a certificate of ownership for the elephant as it was believed that he was transporting the animal.
Setting aside the order, the court said "it is the petitioner's case that at the border of Delhi, the animal, i.E. Elephant strayed into Noida in the state of UP, while grazing. There is nothing recorded by way of finding that this was an overt or even a covert case of transport.
"The petitioner, was found along with the animal. There was no third party available at the relevant point in time. Record does not indicate the presence of indices of an attempt by the petitioner to transport the animal out of Delhi, as alleged."

Ali had challenged the LG's order last year rejecting his appeal against a September 2013 decision of the Chief Wild Life Warden dismissing his plea for an ownership certificate for the elephant.

Ali had contended in his plea, that Champa had inadvertently crossed over to UP while grazing with another elephant and met with an accident there. While Champa was injured, the other elephant died in the accident.
He had sought the release of the elephant before the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar who had dismissed the plea, his petition had said, adding that thereafter, an appeal against the order was rejected by the District Judge there.

Subsequently, he had moved the Allahabad High Court which had held that he has to first move the Chief Wilf Life Warden for an ownership certificate, after which he can approach the District Magistrate for interim custody of the animal.
However, his application for ownership certificate was rejected by the warden as well as the LG.