SC refuses to stay culling of nilgai, monk

The Supreme Court refused to stay Centre’s notification allowing culling of nilgai , wild boar in Bihar, monkey in Himachal Pradesh. It also declined to stay killing of wild boar in Uttrakhand. A bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel refused to pass any interim order but agreed to hear animal rights activist plea after vacation and posted it for July 15. The bench allowed the activists to make a representation to the

Central government and asked UOI to consider their grievances within two weeks.The Centre had issued notifications permitting the three states to kill the animals on the ground that they were posing danger to human life and causing harm to crops. Senior advocates Anand Grover and Siddharth Luthra appearing for the petitioners, pleaded the court to intervene as the decision for culling was taken without conducting any study on the danger posed by the animals to human habitat.

The ministry of environment and forest had on December 1 2015 issued notification declaring nilgai and wild boar as vermin in Bihar and granted permission for their culling for one year. On February 2, it allowed culling of wild boar in Uttrakhand while killing of rhesus macaque monkey in Himachal Pradesh was allowed by the Centre on May 24. Once declared vermin (harmful to human, crops, farm animals or carrier of diseases), an animal is deprived of the protection under the Wildlife Protection Act.