New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay three notifications of the Centre declaring Nilgai, monkey and wild boar as vermins for one year in the states of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, paving way for their culling outside forests.
Some NGOs had moved the apex court after the government declared the animals as vermin making their culling legal.
While asking the petitioners to make representation to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the bench in its order said that none of the three animals would be culled in forest areas.
An apex court vacation bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice A.M Khanwilkar asked the government to consider and respond to the representations in two weeks time and directed the listing of three petitions on July 15.
Animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi, WildLife Rescue and Research Organisation and Federation of Indian Animals Protection Organisations have challenged three notifications issued by the government by which nilgais and wild boars can be culled in some districts of Bihar and Uttarakhand and thesus monkeys in Himachal Pradesh.
The Animal Welfare Board of India also told the court that the notifications were flawed.
The first notification of Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change dated December 1, 2015, declared Nilgai and wild boar as vermin in some districts of Bihar for one year.
The second notification of the ministry dated February 3, 2016, declared wild boar as vermin in some districts of Uttarakhand for a one-year period.
The third notification, issued on May 24, 2016, declared rhesus macaque (monkey) to be vermin in some districts of Himachal Pradesh.
