Case against Sidhu for gifting stuffed black partridge to Punjab CM

A case has been registered against Punjab Local Bodies and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for violating Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 by allegedly possessing a stuffed black partridge and later gifting it to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The minister had brought the bird from neighbouring Pakistan.

Speaking to ANI, Sandeep Jain, a volunteer of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in Punjab said, "I have registered a complaint with Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in Delhi demanding a probe on how the black partridge was brought from Pakistan and kept in Punjab for so long. It is illegal to keep an animal or a bird or their body parts without any permission. I got to know through newspapers that Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu brought a stuffed black partridge from Pakistan and gifted it to Punjab Chief Minister. This is a violation of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972."

The WCCB is a statutory multi-disciplinary body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests to stop organised wildlife crime.

During a meeting with Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh recently, Sidhu had presented him the bird. However, the Chief Minister had reportedly told Sidhu that he would have to check if it was permissible to keep the bird protected under Schedule IV of the Act.