Contempt of court case for breach of elephant parade norms

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday (December 11) ordered initiation of a contempt of court case against R. Reghuraman, Devaswom officer of the Cochin Devaswom Board (CDB) at the Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple, Thripunithura, for violation of the High Court guidelines on parading of elephants on the fourth day of the festival at the temple.

The Bench comprising Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P., while issuing notice to the Devaswom officer, observed that prima facie, the Devaswom officer had “committed an act of civil contempt.”

The court observed that the District Collector in a report had said that 15 elephants were paraded by the temple authorities on December 2 in complete violation of the distance norm between elephants and also between the elephants and the crowd.

The court added that the officer had completely disregarded the safety of people on the temple premises on the day, putting their lives in danger. For his conduct, there cannot be any valid justification.

The court did not accept the affidavit filed by the Devaswom officer in which he tendered an unconditional apology for parading elephants in violation of the distance norm. He said the guidelines of the High Court were scrupulously maintained throughout the festival except for a brief period on the fourth day. Heavy rain and an unprecedented crowd that gathered to offer ‘Kanikka’ had caused the situation to go out of control. Besides the devotees did not cooperate with him, he added.

The court asked the officer to respond to the contempt notice on or before January 9, 2025.

Published - December 12, 2024 01:21 am IST