Hearing on a public interest litigation, the Uttarakhand High Court has given the chief wildlife warden and State Government three weeks to explain their stand regarding the complaint by additional principal chief conservator of forests (Wildlife) about effective action not being taken in numerous cases of poaching and wildlife crime in spite of information being provided on these.
Informing The Pioneer about the court directions, the petitioner, PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi said that the High Court bench comprising of chief justice Barin Ghosh and justice VK Bisht has sought explanation from chief wildlife warden and PCCF SS Sharma regarding the complaint by additional PCCF (Wildlife) SK Dutt who had alleged that in spite of being informed, Sharma did not take effective action in numerous cases of poaching and other wildlife crime. Maulekhi said, “The HC has also sought an affidavit from the Corbett tiger reserve administration stating that it will facilitate relocation of four villages from inside Corbett. The next hearing for the case has been fixed on May 15,” she added. It will be recalled that the PFA Uttarakhand had filed a PIl in the High Court alleging major mismanagement in Corbett, anomalies in the functioning of the Forest Department and other related issues.