Thiruchirapalli

The top court, on August 9, 2018, had taken note of the report of the District Collector of the Nilgiris and had asked the Tamil Nadu government to seal or close down 27 commercial establishments, including hotels and resorts in the eco-sensitive elephant corridor of the State. 

“We are dealing with a very fragile eco-system. These elephants can become extinct in no time if illegal activities are not curbed in the elephant corridor. We do not want anybody to create trouble for elephants,” said the bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices S A Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna.

The bench said it would appoint a three-member committee headed by a former high court judge to inspect the Nilgiri area in the State and the panel would consider which hotels or resorts are authorised or unauthorised for the purposes of granting compensation to the owners of such commercial establishments. 

The bench further asked senior lawyers, including Salman Khursheed and Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, to give names of the judges and environmentalists to be appointed in the committee by Monday.

Further, the bench said the owners of commercial establishments in the Nilgiris area will be compensated only if their structures are found to be authorised. “We want to protect the routes and areas used by elephants and if you (hotel owners) are found in their way, then you will have to be relocated,” the bench said.

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