Kerala High Court initiates contempt case against Devaswom officer for violating elephant parade norms

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday initiated contempt of court proceedings against Raghu Raman, an officer of the Cochin Devaswom Board, for flouting court-mandated norms on parading of elephants during the Poornathrayeesa temple festival at Thripunithura [In Re Captive Elephants v Union of India & ors]..A Bench of Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P refused to accept the explanation offered by the Devaswom officer after the Court had sought his response on the matter."The officer completely disregarded the safety of people in the temple premises that day, putting their lives in danger. For this conduct, we find there cannot be any valid justification. Prima facie, we are of the view that the Devaswom officer has committed an act of civil contempt," the Court said..The Devaswom officer's affidavit stated that crowd mismanagement and heavy rain on December 2 led to deviations from the Court’s directive of maintaining a three-meter minimum distance between elephants during temple rituals.The Bench expressed grave dissatisfaction with the officer’s justifications, noting that the Court had issued directives to ensure public safety and protect elephant welfare, specifically to prevent crowding and close proximity of elephants and devotees during the parade.The violations on December 2 were alarming as elephants were paraded too closely and confined to a small space, endangering both public safety and the well-being of the elephants."The affidavit affirms our fears in this regard, stating that on 2.12.2024, heavy rain and an unprecedented crowd at the temple caused the gathered crowd to suddenly throng temple premises to avoid the rain, and elephants had to be moved inside the premises," the Bench added..The Court also hinted at the Devaswom officer having "someone's backing" and grilled him."Who told you to violate the directions of the Court? You will not have the courage to do so unless you have backing from someone," Justice Nambiar said.The Cochin Devaswom Board standing counsel argued that the violations were not wilful but were a result of unforeseen circumstances. However, the Bench dismissed these submissions, emphasising that the affidavit affirmed its concerns about deliberate non-compliance.The Court also criticised the Board’s use of funds collected from devotees, stating that the resources meant to enhance the sanctity of the temple were instead being utilized for elaborate festivities without adequate safety measures."Not a care in the world for the people coming there at the temple. Counsel Sudheer the money that is being collected from devotees is for encouraging the devotion and providing a place of worship but instead it is being used for all such festivities, like bringing actors and actresses, parading the elephants etc."The Court directed the Registry to formally register a contempt of court case against the Devaswom officer and to send him notice of the same and posted the matter for further consideration on January 9, 2025.