Supreme Court of India is hearing a writ petition being Writ
Petition (Civil) No. 107 of 2013 ‘Shakti Prasad Nayak vs Union of India’. This
PIL pertains to avoidance of railway accidents by which the life of elephants,
which is regarded as national wildlife wealth, is endangered as number of
deaths occur due to such accidents. The depletion of the clan of the elephants
has been a worrying feature for protection and sustenance of wildlife. There
has been a constant uproar about the apathy shown to such accidents which are
avoidable in today's progressive technology. The PIL was initially restricted
to North-Eastern region of the country where there was no arrangement by the
Railways. However, by order dated 10.12.2013, the supreme Court expanded the
canvas and called for response from all the States. Certain directions were
given by the Court on the said day.
Recently, the matter was taken up by a bench of Justices
Dipak Misra and Vikramjit Sen on 2nd September 2014. The Court observed that “the depleting rate of elephants in the
country has been a concern of everyone who has interest in the environment. Needless
to say that it is a necessity to sustain the environment and ecological
balance. In the present era, sustenance of species is a categorical imperative
and neither MOEF nor the Railways can treat it as a matter of non-concern by
not taking steps or causing delay in taking steps”. The Court restrained the
State of West Bengal from taking any steps to administer any kind of
contraceptives or introducing any method of sterilization which hinders natural
procreative process of the elephants or any wildlife. The matter was adjourned
to 23rd September 2014.
Click below for Full Text of Order dated 2nd September 2014.
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