The Supreme Court on Wednesday banned Tiger Safari at the Jim Corbett National Park in
Uttarakhand. In its judgment, the court said it was clear that the national
wildlife conservation plan recognises the need for wildlife conservation.
The top court
also slammed former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and then
divisional forest officer Kishan Chand for illegal constructions and felling of
trees in Corbett Tiger Reserve. Rawat and Chand were also called for indulging
in commercial purposes, leading to the mass illicit failing of trees.
The court said,
"They have thrown the public trust doctrine in the wastebin."
The SC came down
heavily on the Uttarakhand government, issuing directives for the conservation
of tigers, which includes the ban on safari tours in core areas of the national
park. The court will also determine whether safaris can be done in the buffer
area.
The Supreme Court
further directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit an interim
report on the investigation conducted so far within three months.
Earlier this
year, the Supreme Court had also told the National Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA) that its plan to have a tiger safari on the lines of a zoo within a
national park, as envisaged at the Jim Corbett National Park, cannot be
permitted as the approach has to be "animal-centric" and not
"tourism-centric".
The issue came to
the Court after a petition filed by environment activist and lawyer Gaurav
Bansal challenged the Uttarakhand government's proposal to have a tiger safari,
meant as a specialised zoo with caged animals, at the Jim Corbett National
Park.
At the time, a bench
headed by justice BR Gavai said, "We will not permit animals in the zoo to
be kept (in cages) at national parks," while commenting on the 2019 NTCA
guidelines to establish tiger safari in buffer and fringe areas of tiger
reserves. The guidelines provided for establishing tiger safari in buffer and
fringe areas of tiger reserves to reduce the pressure of tourism from the core
or critical tiger habitats.