A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and Sandeep Mehta reprimands former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and Divisional Forest Officer Kishan Chand for Environmental Destruction in the National Park.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Tiger Safari could be allowed in the buffer zone of Jim Corbett National Park but not within its core area, as outlined in the case “In Re: Gaurav Kumar Bansal.”
A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and Sandeep Mehta took the opportunity to rebuke former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Kishan Chand for their role in causing environmental damage to the National Park.
The Court expressed concern over the evident collaboration between a politician and a forest officer, resulting in significant environmental harm for political and commercial gains. It noted the disregard for recommendations from senior officers in the Forest Department, Vigilance Department, and Police Department, who objected to the posting of Kishan Chand at a sensitive post. The Court refrained from making further comments on the matter, given the ongoing investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Court emphasized that the illegal tree felling within the park could not be overlooked. To address the issue, it appointed Chander Prakash Goyal, Ex-Director General of Forests & Special Secretary, along with Sumit Sinha and another expert to propose more effective management strategies for tiger reserves.
The existing safaris and the one under construction at Pakhrau will not face disruption, as per the Court’s decision. However, concerning the Safari at ‘Pakhrau,’ the State of Uttarakhand is directed to relocate or establish a rescue center in close proximity.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) has been tasked with forming a committee consisting of representatives from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a MoEF Central Empowered Committee (CEC) officer of no less than Joint Secretary rank, and a wildlife authority. This committee will recommend measures for restoring the damages, quantifying the costs of restoration, identifying liable officers, and recovering costs from them. The funds recovered will be exclusively utilized for the restoration of the damage, as per the Court’s directive.
The Court also urged the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to expedite its probe and instructed the State to initiate disciplinary proceedings against errant officials.
The verdict was delivered in a case concerning permissions for the proposed Pakhro Tiger Safari project within the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.
In January, the bench had conveyed to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) that its plan for a tiger safari akin to a zoo within the national park was not permissible. The Court advocated an “animal-centric” approach over a “tourism-centric” one, aligning with NTCA guidelines that endorse tiger safaris only in buffer and fringe areas of such reserves.
The case originated from a petition filed by environmental activist and advocate Gaurav Bansal, challenging the Uttarakhand government’s proposal for the Pakhro Tiger Safari. As per the State’s affidavit, Uttarakhand is home to 560 tigers, with 260 residing at the Corbett Tiger Reserve, spanning 1,288 square kilometers. The proposed tiger safari at Pakhrau covered an area of 106 hectares, constituting approximately 0.082% of the total park area and 0.22% of the buffer area of the tiger reserve.
