Supreme Court constitutes Expert Committee to examine viability of introducing African cheetahs in India [Read Order]

The Supreme Court on Tuesday constituted an expert committee to oversee the introduction of African cheetahs in India, on an experimental basis..The Bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant passed the order on an application filed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), seeking permission to “re-introduce” cheetahs from Africa to suitable sites in India..The Court noted at the outset that the use of the term “re-introduce” was a misnomer given that African cheetahs have never been introduced in India..The Bench, however, noted that in 2013, in the case of Centre for Environment Law, World Wide Fund – India vs. Union of India & Ors, the Supreme Court had struck down an order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to introduce the African cheetahs in Kuno, Madhya Pradesh on the ground that MoEF & CC had not conducted any detailed study before passing the order to introduce the ‘foreign species’ to India..The NTCA’s application, on the other hand, informed the Court that the proposal is to introduce the African cheetah on an experimental basis in a carefully chose habitat. The NTCA further told the Court that the process would be monitored to see if the cheetah can adapt to Indian conditions and further if the location should be changed to a more habitable environment, if the need arises..In view of these submissions, the Court noted that the application by the NTCA presumably aimed at remedying the defects of the African cheetah project noticed back in 2013..All the same, the Court opined that the project would have to be guided by a committee of experts, who could take a call on the viability of introducing the animal on a larger scale as well..“It is not desirable that this action of introducing the African Cheetahs into India be left to the sole discretion of the NTCA but we consider it appropriate that NTCA be guided and directed by the Committee of Experts in the field who would carry out the survey for the best location for introducing the African Cheetahs in India and take a careful decision about the viability of introducing this animal on a larger scale.”Supreme Court.Therefore, the Court has constituted an Expert Committee comprising of the following members to monitor the project and appraise the Court of its progress, i.e.Dr. MK Ranjit Sinh (IAS Retd.), Former Director of Wildlife Preservation, India.Dr. Dhananjai Mohan, Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Administration, Protection & Intelligence, Nainital, Uttarakhand.DIG (Wildlife) Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India, New Delhi..The Court directed that, “The expert committee shall also supervise the entire process and NTCA shall be guided to act in co-ordination with the expert committee.”.The said expert committee is to submit a report to the Supreme Court every four months. The matter has been listed to be taken up next after four months, by which time a report of the committee is to be filed..[Read the order]