SC stays Kerala HC curbs on elephants in temple festivals

The Supreme Court on Thursday effectively stayed a series of restrictions imposed by the Kerala high court on the use of elephants in temple festivals, describing them as "impractical" and exceeding judicial authority.

- 

Among the high court's directives were mandates for a minimum three metre gap between two elephants, an eight metre distance between elephants and the public or percussion displays, and a 100 metre buffer from areas where fireworks are used. Additionally, the high court required elephants to have at least three days of rest between public exhibitions.

"Any direction issued by the high court contrary to the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2012, shall remain stayed," ordered a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh, in effect staying the additional guidelines issued by the high court in November.