A letter of demand will be sent against the Attorney General who had sought permission from the court to release 14 elephants, who were in government custody Chairman of The Center for Environmental Justice, Attorney-at-Law Ravindranath Dabare said.
The Hulftsdorp Magistrate’s Court recently ordered that the elephants in the custody of the Department of Zoology on as case items with regard to some courts procedures filed with the charges of illegal possession of baby elephants, be returned to the persons who were in possession earlier. CID had filed these court cases under the Criminal Procedure Code.
Mr. Dabare alleged that the Attorney General, who had requested for the order, had acted in violation of existing laws. Addressing a media briefing held yesterday (09) the Mr. Dabare further stated that the Attorney General has submitted this to the court based on an Extraordinary Gazette Notification issued by the Minister of State for Elephants on August 19. He expressed his displeasure to the Attorney General for requesting the release of the elephants on the basis of a gazette notification that a special gazette notification should be issued by a Cabinet Minister and that if such a new regulation were to be enacted it would need to be tabled in Parliament but not subject to such a procedure. Speaking further Mr. Ravindranath Dabare stated that he intends to challenge this decision and file a case in a higher court.
