On Wednesday, the Kerala High Court rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that contested an Order from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and the Chief Wildlife Warden. This Order had instructed actions to be taken to deal with a tiger that had attacked and partially consumed a farmer in Wayanad.

As the plea was dismissed, the Division Bench, led by Chief Justice A.J. Desai and Justice V.G. Arun, levied a penalty of Rs. 25,000.

The Court deemed the preceding order well-reasoned and concluded that the public interest litigation seemed to have ulterior motives known to the petitioner. Consequently, the petition was dismissed and a cost of Rs. 25,000 was imposed. The specified amount needs to be deposited with the Legal Aid within two weeks from today, as per the Court's directive.

The incident occured on December 9, 2023, as the partially consumed body of the deceased was discovered approximately 500 meters from the forested area.

The petitioner, Animal and Nature Ethics Community (ANEC), claimed that the directive issued by the Chief Wildlife Warden involved shooting the tiger if it couldn't be captured and tranquilized.

The Court, upon examination, determined that the contested order had been issued by the authority subsequent to thorough consideration of multiple communications and expert committee reports. Consequently, the plea was dismissed, and costs were imposed on the petitioner.