Declining to hear an interim plea on the deaths of captive elephants in Kerala, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated on Tuesday that there may be a thousand matters deserving consideration, but not everything can be accommodated to avoid rendering the Supreme Court nonfunctional.
The apex court bench comprising Chief Justice Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said, "These are local issues which may be dealt with by the high courts. If they make an egregious error then we are here to correct those errors. But you know … how can we run the country."
"What is the role of the Supreme Court in the nation ... we are not to deal with these, you know, micromanagement of issues which arise all over the country. If the high court commits an egregious error we are here and will correct the error," it added.
Senior advocate CU Singh, appearing as an intervenor, at the outset raised the issue of deaths of captive elephants in Kerala, violation of rules and sought an urgent hearing.
"More than 135 captive elephants in Kerala died due to neglect, overwork between February 2019 to November 2022," he said.
The bench advised Singh to take his grievance to the high court, emphasizing that the judges there possess a deep understanding of the local circumstances and consequences.
The Chief Justice expressed frustration over the excessive filing of interim applications in ongoing cases and underscored the importance of comprehending the Supreme Court's role.
On being insisted that the matter be heard in the top court itself, the bench said, "Now we cannot entertain everything here to make the Supreme Court dysfunctional."
"We are of the view that it will not be possible to entertain such IAs (interim applications). The intervenor may be heard on substantive issues when the writ petition is listed," the bench said and listed the main case for hearing in December.
