Coming down heavily on the Uttarakhand government for the felling of trees and illegal construction in Jim Corbett National Park, the Supreme Court today said public trust had been thrown into the waste bin. Pulling up former state minister Harak Singh Rawat and former divisional forest officer Kishan Chand, it asked the Centre to form a committee that will recommend steps to mitigate the damage and recover the cost from those responsible.
The bench of Justice BR Gavai, Justice PK Mishra and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing a petition by environment activist and lawyer Gaurav Bansal. Mr Bansal had challenged the Uttarakhand government's proposal for a tiger safari and a zoo with caged animals inside the national park. The matter brought under the spotlight illegal construction and deforestation inside the national park.
The bench started with a quote from the epic Mahabharata, which means that a forest protects the tiger and the tiger protects the forest.
A tiger safari in the core area, it said, will be contrary to the provisions of tiger conservation. The court, however, allowed safari tours in the buffer zone of the popular national park, citing the employment it may generate. The court noted that such safari tours should follow the necessary guidelines.
Pulling up Mr Rawat and Mr Chand, the court said this is a case where bureaucrats and politicians threw public trust doctrine in the waste bin.
"They have, in blatant disregard of the law and for commercial purposes, indulged in mass felling of trees to construct buildings on the pretext of promotion of tourism," the bench said, adding that it was "amazed at the audacity" in giving rules a go-by.
As many as 6,000 trees were felled in the national park, visited by thousands every year.
The court said that while figures show substantial reduction in poaching of tigers, "ground realities cannot be denied". The court appointed a three-member committee to provide suggestions for efficient management of tiger reserves in the country. It asked the panel to submit a report within three months.
The court noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is already probing the matter. "The CBI probe will only lead to finding out who is responsible for this. We are of the view that the State cannot run away from the responsibility of restoring the status of the forest from when damage was done and recover it from the ones who committed the damage," the court said, asking the central agency to file a status report in three months.
