Authority: Supreme Court of India

Order Date: 20-07-2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioners: M/S Jungle Hut (Petitioner) versus The Honble Segur Plateau Elephant Corridor Inquiry Committee & Ors. (Respondent).
  • Origin: Appeals arising from the impugned judgment and order dated 12-09-2025 in WP No. 23536/2024 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Madras.
  • Multiple Special Leave Petitions (C) were filed, including SLP(C) Nos. 32019/2025, 36421/2025, 716‑717/2026, 34005‑34006/2025, 34133/2025, and others, with various interim applications for condonation of delay, exemption from filing copies of the impugned judgment, and permission to file lengthy lists of dates.
  • Hearing held on 20‑07‑2026 before a bench comprising the Chief Justice, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana.
  • Counsel for the petitioners included senior advocates Mr. Manan Verma, Mr. Kaushik Poddar, Mr. Sivagnanam Karthikeyan, Mr. Rajagopal Vasudevan, Mr. Tushar Giri, Mr. Salman Khurshid, Mr. Shoaib Alam, Mr. Vivek Raja, Mr. Achin Nayak, Mr. Zafar Khurshid, Ms. Lubna Naaz, Mr. Amit Singh Chauhan, Ms. Sommya Chaturvedi, Mr. P.B. Suresh, Mr. John Mathew, and Ms. G. Indira. Counsel for the respondents included Ms. Devyani Gupta, Ms. Haripriya Padmanabhan, Ms. Rupali Samuel, Mr. Yash S., Mr. Shikhar Aggarwal, Mr. Tushar Srivastava, Ms. Aditi Soni, and Mr. Joshua Tom Thomas.
  • The Court also heard senior counsel for the State of Tamil Nadu.

Final Outcome

1. The Court condoned the delay in filing the petitions and related applications.

2. After hearing senior counsel for the petitioners and counsel for the State of Tamil Nadu, the Court found no ground to interfere with the High Court’s judgment.

3. The measures directed by the High Court for protecting the Segur Plateau elephant corridors are to be given effect.

4. The State of Tamil Nadu is at liberty to identify land suitable for acquisition that is not owned or possessed by tribal communities; if the State faces difficulty in the acquisition process, it may approach the High Court for suitable modification of the order.

5. Petitioners who, by virtue of the High Court judgment, were deprived of their livelihood may approach the State Government for an alternative source of livelihood, and such requests shall be considered sympathetically.

6. The Court expressly prohibited any commercial activity from being allowed to run in the subject elephant corridor area.

7. The Special Leave Petitions are disposed of, subject to any pending applications.

Topics: Environmental Protection, Land Acquisition, Livelihood