Today, the Supreme Court of India orally remarked that, certain matters are better suited for resolution in the High Courts, as they possess a deeper understanding of the unique local conditions within each state.

The bench comprising, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra orally remarked while hearing a  petition concerning captive elephants in the State of Kerala.

The bench further said that,  the Apex Court could not be rendered dysfunctional by micro managing all issues across the country.

Senior Advocate CU Singh, representing the intervenors, presented his argument before the bench. He pointed out that the Supreme Court had already addressed the primary issue concerning captive elephants. He also highlighted the alarming trend of a significant number of elephants under the age of 50 years dying in the State of Kerala. Mr. Singh added:

"They're not doing the postmortem because they don't want to identify malnutrition as the cause. 131 captive elephants in Kerala had died between February-September 2022. Majority of them were under 50 years. Till September 2023, 22 more recorded deaths have been there. It's a startlingly high rate."

"Why don't you approach the HC? Supreme Court should not be spread thin...Anyone can intervene and start joining any matter now..."

CJI said -

"We don't know the ramifications of an order we may pass. The High Court judges are suited to understand local conditions. Let them make a primary order...if they make an egregious error, we are here. How do we run the country like this? Tomorrow we will have an IA from Maharashtra or other states also...The Supreme Court is not here to deal with micro management like this. If the High Court commits an egregious error, we'll be here."

In the order, the court held–

"There is a proliferation of IAs from intervenors. The pan India issues raised by petitioners would merit attention of this court. We are of the view that it's not possible for this court to go into prayers of intervenors. Intervenors will be heard on substantive issues. List in first week of December."

Case Title: Wildlife Rescue And Rehabilitation Centre And Ors. v. Union Of India And Ors.