Kochi: The fight to decide the tallest elephant has been stalled with the High Court staying the data book of elephants. Justice A. Muhammed Mustaque imposed the stay on a plea alleging that the height of Pampadi Rajan, a popular elephant, was not measured following the norms.
Mr K.P. Wilson of Kothamangalam had sought to remove the entry of Pampadi Rajan’s height in the data book on the ground that it was obtained fraudulently by interested persons.
The petitioner also sought to conduct an inquiry against the officers who had facilitated to create the false data entry. The petitioner got the details of the data entered in the data book under Right to Information Act.
“As per the data compiled by the Forest Department in 2012, the height of Pampady Rajan was only 308 cm while now the height is marked as 314.20,” the petitioner contended.
The department added the details of the elephant, including its height measured as per the law on the website. The petitioner alleged that the details were altered by some elephant owners for financial gain. Temple authorities hire elephants for the festivals and the tallest elephants fetch the maximum rent amount.
