The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it was “amazed at the audacity” of former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and Divisional Forest Officer Kishan Chand in allowing the cutting of trees on a “mass scale” in utter disregard of the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act. It said that the trees were cut to unauthorisedly construct buildings in the Jim Corbett Park for tiger safari in Pakhro and Morghatti forest areas on the pretext of promoting tourism.

Taking a serious view of the cutting of trees in large numbers for constructing buildings for setting up tiger safari in Pakhro and Morghatti forest areas, a bench of Justice BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Sandeep Mehta, directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to appoint a committee that will include a representative of the NTCA, Wildlife Institute of India, a representative of the Central Empowered Committee; and an officer of the MoEF&CC not below the rank of Joint Secretary as its Member Secretary.

Justice Gavai, speaking for the bench, stated: “We are amazed at the audacity of the then Hon’ble Forest Minister and Mr. Kishan Chand, DFO, in giving a total go-by to the statutory provisions. In the present case, it is clear beyond doubt that the then Forest Minister and Mr. Kishan Chand, DFO, considered them to be law unto themselves. They have, in blatant disregard of the law and for commercial purposes, indulged in the illicit felling of trees on a mass scale to construct buildings on the pretext of promoting tourism. This is a classic case that shows how the politicians and the bureaucrats have thrown the public trust doctrine in the dustbin.”

Having expressed its bewilderment over the manner in which the former forest minister and the DFO acted in the teeth of law, the court permitted the Committee to co-opt any other authority, including a representative of CZA, and also take the services of the experts in the field, if found necessary.

Besides the committee to be notified by the MoEF&CC, the court also asked Chandra Prakash Goyal, former Director General of Forest, Anup Malik, IFS, PCCF (HoFF), Uttarakhand, and Dr. Samir Sinha, IFS, PCCF (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttarakhand, to give their suggestions for more effective management of the “Tiger Reserves” in India.

After directing to set up the committee, the court issued a slew of directions, including the stipulation that the existing safaris and the one under construction at Pakhrau would not be disturbed. However, regarding the safari at ‘Pakhrau’, the court directed the Uttarakhand government to relocate or establish a rescue centre in the vicinity of the ‘Tiger Safari’.

The court further said that the directions it would issue with regard to the establishment and maintenance of the ‘Tiger Safaris’ upon receipt of the recommendations of the committee would also apply to all the existing safaris across the country, including the safari to be established at Pakhrau.

The court gave the committee three months’ time to submit its report.

Directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to effectively investigate the matter as directed by the Uttarakhand High Court, the top court asked the CBI to submit a status report within three months.

The court further directed the Uttarakhand government to complete the disciplinary proceedings against the delinquent officers as expeditiously as possible, in any case, within a period of six months from today. The status report in this regard shall be submitted in the court within a period of three months from today.

The court kept the matter pending so that it could monitor the steps taken by the authorities as well as the investigation by the CBI. It further said that it would consider issuing appropriate directions after receiving recommendations from the aforesaid committee.