Top forest dept official appears in U'khd HC; asked to submit report on upkeep of tigers

The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday directed the Principal Secretary (Forest) Anand Vardhan to submit a report by April 23 on steps taken by the state government for the security and upkeep of tigers since 2007.

The high court's direction came after Vardhan, against whom a bailable warrant was issued, appeared before it.

The warrant had been issued against Vardhan as he had not appeared before the high court to respond to its queries regarding the matter.

Cancelling the warrant, the court directed Vardhan to file a report on the steps taken in compliance with 2007 directions of the Centre for the security and upkeep of tigers in the state.

A PIL had been filed in the court, saying that the tiger population in the state was steadily on the decline but the state government was taking no action for the protection of tigers against wildlife smugglers and poachers.

The division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Rangnathan and Justice NS Dhanik had directed the state to file a reply.

The state had filed a reply saying that various departments have been given directions as per the 2007 directions of the central government. These directions included keeping track of the number of tigers, establishing a tiger protection force and setting up CCTV cameras.

After this, the court had directed the Principal Secretary of Forest to appear in Court and answer the queries put forth. However the Secretary had failed to appear before the Court after which a bailable warrant was issued against him.