In a scathing rebuke, the Supreme Court has shredded Uttarakhand authorities over illegal construction and deforestation in the famed Corbett Tiger Reserve.
Senior minister Harak Singh Rawat and IFS officer Kishan Chand were labelled as having “thrown public trust in the waste bin,” and the bench fumed at their brazen disregard for laws meant to protect the ecologically sensitive park.
From allowing massive tree-felling under the guise of boosting tourism to running roughshod over statutory provisions, the court made clear such hubris will not be tolerated. It was appalled at the audacity shown by those tasked with Conservation in wantonly destroying the very habitat they’re sworn to safeguard.
Noting that the CBI probe is ongoing, the court refused to mince words—others were complicit, too, in the criminal complicity of politicians with bureaucrats who took the law into their own hands.
While forming a panel to examine tiger safaris elsewhere, the court was unambiguous – India’s forests perish without big cats, so their survival must be paramount. Those responsible for the damage will be held accountable.
With poaching reduced but realities on the ground undeniable, the verdict serves as a clarion call. Corbett and our natural heritage can ill-afford more lapses that ignore the sacred public trust in their mandated keepers. This ruling ensures it.
