NEW DELHI: In the centuries-old human-animal conflict invariably leading to constricting the wild habitat, the Supreme Court on Friday gave an assurance to wildlife that the court would always lean towards the animals who suffer silently when their migration paths are impeded by commercial tourism ventures.A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said this while hearing petitions by various wildlife resorts, which have been asked to vacate after the Tamil Nadu government notified elephant corridors in Sigur Plateau in the Nilgiris.The HC on September 12 had approved the recommendation of an SC-appointed committee, which had declared that the land purchased by private parties on the elephant corridors in Sigur Plateau was illegal and that the constructions raised on these lands need to be dismantled.The HC order came on petitions by owners of private forest lodges/resorts, which had challenged the findings of the expert committee headed by former judge K Venkataraman. The committee was set up by the SC after the district collector of Nilgiris had informed the apex court that there was a total of over 800 constructions, including 39 resorts and 390 houses, inside the Sigur elephant corridor. The authorities sent demolition notices to 35 resorts last year. Senior advocates Salman Khurshid and Shoeb Alam argued that owners of these resorts/forest lodges had bought the properties much before the elephant corridors had been notified, and that they should be allowed to continue with their eco-friendly business with a rider that they must not expand their business ventures.The bench said, “The finding of the committee is clear – all of you are there for commercial purposes and on the elephant corridor. This definitely interferes with elephant movement. If at any time there is any doubt where the benefit should go, it must go to these silent victims (elephants and wild animals) of commercial development.”However, it agreed with Alam’s request to hear all the petitions, some of which are pending from earlier, together and posted the final hearing on January 5.
