The Supreme Court on Wednesday imposed a ban on Tiger Safari in core areas of Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. As per the order, the tiger safari would now be allowed only in the peripheral and buffer zones of the reserved forest Jim Corbett National Park.
'Illegal construction in Corbett'
Besides imposing a ban on tiger safari, the apex court also rapped former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and former divisional Forest Officer Kishan Chand for allowing illegal construction and felling of trees at the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve.
The court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is already probing the case, to file its status report on the matter within three months.
The court's remarks were made in response to a petition filed by environmental activist and lawyer Gaurav Bansal, challenging the Uttarakhand government's proposal to establish a tiger safari and a specialized zoo with caged animals at the national park.
What did Supreme Court say?
A bench headed by Justice B R Gavai said that this was a case where bureaucrats and politicians had thrown public trust doctrine in the waste bin.
Slamming the former forest minister and then divisional forest officer, the bench said, "They (Rawat and Chand) have in blatant disregard of the law and for commercial purposes indulged in mass felling of trees to construct buildings in the pretext of promotion of tourism."
While pronouncing its judgment, the top court said it was amazed at the audacity of Rawat and Chand in giving statutory provisions a total go by.
The Supreme Court remarked that the nexus between politicians and forest officials has resulted in causing heavy damage to the environment for some political and commercial gain.
Additionally, the court constituted a committee to examine whether tiger safaris could be allowed in buffer or fringe areas of national parks across the country.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at the residences of Rawat and Chand concerning unauthorized construction within the tiger reserve.
(With agencies input)
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