Illegal pruning of 6000 trees in Jim Corbett: Uttarakhand High Court hands over case to CBI

A division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma handed over the case to the CBI and directed the investigating agencies of Uttarakhand to cooperate with the central probe agency.

Nainital (Uttarakhand):The Uttarakhand High Court, while hearing a bunch of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) over the rampant felling of trees in the Jim Corbett National Park as well as illegal constructions inside the sanctuary, issued a directive to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the case.

A PIL was filed by Dehradun resident Anu Pant and the court took suo-motu cognizance and clubbed other petitions. A division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma handed over the case to the CBI and directed the investigating agencies of Uttarakhand to cooperate with the central probe agency.

The counsel of the petitioner reminded that earlier the Chief Secretary SS Sandhu had been asked by the High Court to take action against the culprits regarding the illegal cutting of trees a year ago. Around 6,000 trees have been cut illegally so far and investigations were carried out by five probe panels but no action was taken against the culprits, the petitioner stated.

Furthermore, the petitioner told the High Court that the illegal cutting of trees and construction work were taking place at the behest of the officials. The Chief Secretary had earlier filed an affidavit wherein he stated that from time to time he would inform the HC about the action being taken. But even after the lapse of one year, the HC was kept in the dark about the status of action taken, the petitioner's counsel contended.

The Supreme Court also in its ruling had made it amply clear neither a single tree nor any construction work must not be carried out inside the Corbett Tiger Reserve. Whereas as per the survey conducted by the forest department, over 6,000 trees were cut and many illegal constructions took place. According to the Joshi Committee report findings several officers of the department concerned were found guilty of conniving with people involved in a shady deal.