Kochi/Idukki | The Kerala High Court on Wednesday warned the State of strict action if it found that the area in Idukki district where a wild tusker, 'Arikomban', was roaming had been an elephant habitat before tribal people were resettled there.

A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Gopinath P called for records and reports on the resettlement of tribal people in the area back in 2000 and said, "If it was an elephant habitat, you had no business resettling people there and putting them in danger." The court said that resettling people in an elephant habitat was the "root of the entire problem".

"We will examine it. If it was an elephant habitat, then your policy makers went way off board. If people were resettled there despite being aware of this fact, we will come down heavily on those responsible.

"Errors in history can be corrected later in time. We need to find whether the mistake happened and if yes, correct it," the bench added.

The court, however, declined to issue any direction in the interim for capture and captivity of the elephant, Arikomban, so named as it raids ration shops and houses for rice.

"As for the animal in question, we find that we are dealing with a bull elephant, currently in 'Masth', and moving in the company of his herd of females and calves. Any attempt at capturing the animal at this stage would be dangerous not only to the personnel deployed for the said exercise but also to the animal," it said.

In such a scenario, other options have to be explored for preventing the tusker from straying into human settlements, the court said.

"For that we require data, and the opinion of experts thereon, so that we can rely on the same while issuing directions in the matter. In the meanwhile, however, we are quite clear in our minds that the balance of convenience would lie in protecting the interests of the wild pachyderm against immediate capture and the prospect of a life in captivity," the court said.

The bench said its view was based on the various instances of cruelty to captive elephants in Kerala, and also the deplorable conditions in which they are held captive in various locations across the State.

"Adding another wild elephant to that list of hapless ‘converts' would run counter to our fundamental duty to protect wildlife and have compassion for living creatures," the court said.

The bench also referred to some of the places where elephants were kept in captivity, as "Auschwitz" -- a Nazi concentration camp for Jews in Poland during the Second World War.

Instead, the bench said it would constitute a five-member committee which would decide whether to capture the wild bull elephant and turn it into a captive tusker or relocate it to interior areas of the forest.

"We are of the view that the interests of justice would require us to avoid resort to quick-fix knee-jerk actions and ascertain the views of the experts as to what steps would best bring about a balance between the conflicting interests of humans and animals in given situations, as also what steps could be put in place to avoid such situations in the future," it said.

The court said that till the panel came to a decision by April 5, the next date of hearing, the tusker was not to be captured and put in captivity.

It, however, allowed tranquilising of the elephant for the limited purpose of radio-collaring it to track its movements.

The court's decision, meanwhile, was not welcomed by the residents of Chinnakanal and nearby places in Idukki district.

Visibly agitated and angry over the court's decision not to allow the capture of the tusker, people of the area told TV channels they would hold a mass public movement against the government.

They also told TV channels that they would not allow the forest and wildlife officials as well as the Kumki elephants, used for trapping wild pachyderms, to leave the area till Arikomban is removed from there.

The people asked those advocating for the elephant's interests to come there and stay in the area for a night with their families to understand the plight of the local residents.

The court also said that the issue being faced by the people of Chinnakanal and nearby places in Idukki district of Kerala, where 'Arikomban' has been roaming around, would not be resolved by its capture.

"If not Arikomban, it will be another komban (tusker). As we have more and more settlements coming up near forest areas, you will keep having these problems," it said.

The State, during the hearing, pressed for capture of the elephant in the interim to assuage the fears of the local populace of further attacks by the tusker. "Children have stopped going to schools," the State claimed.

The court was hearing a PIL moved by two animal rights groups -- People for Animals (PFA), Trivandum Chapter and the Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy.

The court had last week stayed the State government's order to tranquilise and capture Arikomban till March 29.

Advocates Bhanu Thilak and Prasanth S R, representing the petitioners, argued during the hearing that the State had not followed the guidelines in place for dealing with such situations of human-animal conflict.

"The first step was to be radio-collaring and monitoring of the tusker. They have not yet done that," Thilak told the bench.

The petitioner organisations have claimed in their plea that the order to tranquilise and capture the tusker was "illegal and unscientific".

The petitioners' have urged the court to issue an order directing the State government and its forest department to translocate and rehabilitate Arikomban to an alternative deep forest.