Why not CBI probe tiger crisis: SC asks Centre

4 May, 2005

Three months after The Sunday Express first reported on the missing tigers of Sariska, the Supreme Court has sought the Centre’s response on a plea demanding a CBI inquiry into the large-scale disappearance of the animal from Project Tiger reserves across the country.
Issuing notice to the Centre, a bench comprising Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia asked why the CBI should not be directed to probe all tiger reserves that face a crisis similar to the one in Sariska.
The bench was acting on a petition sent through post by wildlife expert Ashok Kumar, who has been a member of the Project Tiger steering committee for two terms.
‘‘The primary cause of decline in tiger population in quite a few tiger reserves is organised poaching, masterminded by wildlife traders in collaboration with local networks,’’ the petition said.
Following a series of reports in The Indian Express and The Sunday Express, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set up a task force on the issue with a CBI probe confirming the Express report on zero sightings in Sariska.
In his petition, Kumar has specifically sought a probe in reserves—including Ranthambhore in Rajasthan, Panna and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh —and national parks and sanctuaries at Dudwa and Kanha (Madhya Pradesh), Palamu (Jharkhand) and Nagarjun Sagar-Srisalam (Andhra Pradesh).
The petitioner has sought the court’s direction to empower the probe team to register criminal cases for investigation pertaining to poaching and other irregularities in different tiger reserves. Kumar has also submitted that members of the probe team should not be changed without the permission of the court.
The court will take up the matter again tomorrow.