Two youths beat
up their elephant named Devidasan to shoot a TikTok video, which was circulated
on social media to become famous in 2019 at Palakkad. We have filed a complaint
against the youths and the owner of the elephant. The wildlife department
didn’t take any action on our complaint, as a usual practice. There is nothing unusual
in it.
In retaliation, the family filed two separate suits in two civil courts at Mannarkkad and Ottappalam in Palakkad districts, demanding Rs. 200,000/- in each court. The allegation is that Angels Nair and one of his associates drugged the youths and forced them to beat the elephant and shoot the video.
We are forced to appear before the two courts and submit our counter reply, which is more than 200 km from our office. By then, we were surprised to know that anyone has little money and hires an advocate and file such fabricated suits anywhere in India. The judiciary has no system of scrutinizing the genuineness of the allegations. Luckily, we are represented as ourselves without hiring any advocate, which could minimize huge fees.
In the existing legal system, the civil courts send a summons without scrutinizing the genuineness of the petition. If somebody has some money and hires an advocate, bogus suits could be filed anywhere in this nation, and the poor have to plead in each court until the facts are revealed. It may take five to ten years to complete a civil suit.
We are always challenging the elephant lobby and the corrupt wildlife department. They could drag each one of us through a large number of bogus cases.
We have approached the High Court Single bench against vexatious suits filed for Rs. 400,000/-. Instead of filing a police complaint for drugging the youths, they approached civil courts for dragging us on the floor of the courts.
