Following media reports on anomalies in an attempt to rescue a leopard recently in Bageshwar, the High Court has directed the forest department to ensure that such wild animal rescues are undertaken strictly as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The forest secretary should issue directions to all the divisional forest officers for ensuring that the rescue of wild animals is conducted as per the regulations. It is important for an administrative official to also be present during the time of the incident and if needed section 144 should also be imposed. The division bench of acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari issued these directions.
The division bench has also directed the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) to initiate an inquiry on the conduct of the divisional forest officer who gave a clean chit to the villagers who had beaten the leopard during the rescue attempt. The court also directed the Bageshwar District Magistrate to inquire into the incident and submit its report in a sealed envelope in the court by the next date of hearing on October 24.
The court issued these directions after taking cognisance of media reports to take up the matter in the form of a public interest litigation.
It is pertinent to mention here that at least three persons have been killed by leopard in Bageshwar area. The local MLA Chandan Ram Das, had raised the issue in the last session of the Vidhan Sabha during September, also threatening to resign if no concrete action was taken.
Though he withdrew his threat to resign after getting assurance from the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, observers point out that the forest department is yet to effectively address the issue of human-leopardconflict in places like Bageshwar.