HT Archive: Lok Sabha passes landmark bill to safeguard wildlife

ON aug 21, 1972, the Lok Sabha passed the Wildlife ( shelter) banknote, statute law that moved republic of india’s trajectory from a nation of rampant hunting, to a country renowned for its habitats for wildlife, especially tigers and elephants.At least 3,167 tigers roam the sprawling forests of India, which is home to more than 70% of the world’s wild tiger population, according to a 2022 tiger estimate.India also holds 60% of the global wild elephant population; 33 elephant reserves and 150 elephant corridors.“Despite general welcome to the measure, there were suggestions for referring the Bill to a select committee for a closer examination of its provisions. But Mr Sher Singh, Minister of State for Agriculture, who piloted the Bill, disagreed. He said the urgency of the measure should be evident from the fact that in two days since the Bill was introduced seven rhinos were killed by people who wanted to beat the law,” HT reported in its August 22, 1972 edition.The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 has been amended several times since. The significant 2022 amendment focused on implementing The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and strengthening penalties for violations.When the bill was floated in 1972, Indian wildlife was in desperate need of attention and protection.“Political support was the most crucial factor in the passing of the bill. I was among those who floated the idea and drafted the content of the bill and [then Prime Minister] Indira Gandhi grasped it immediately. We were a hunting nation before that. Shooting a tiger was a status symbol, shooting many tigers was a greater status symbol. It was that milieu and from there we managed to conserve our wildlife. Around 18 states including one non-Congress state adopted it. This was because of political will. Prime Minister Gandhi wrote to the chief ministers about adopting it,” said MK Ranjitsinh, a former bureaucrat who was one of the key architects of the 1972 Act.“The Wild Life (Protection) Bill replaced the outmoded Wild Bird and Animal Protection Act, 1912,” HT wrote in an editorial on August 20, 1972.“The Bill seeks to constitute a Wild Life Advisory Board for each State, regulate hunting of wild animals and birds, lay down the procedure for declaring areas as sanctuaries and national parks, regulate the possession, acquisition or transfer of, or trade in, wild animals, animal objects, trophies and taxidermy. It also provides for more stringent penalties than before,” it said.“The hunting of as many as 61 mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds has been totally prohibited. These include such species as the tiger, black buck, cheetah, clouded leopard, dugong (”mermaid”), Indian lion, Kashmir stag, musk deer, Ovis Ammon or nyan, rhinoceros, snow leopard and Tibetan wild ass. In addition, the hunting of several other species of special game (e.g., elephant, python, bison and Himalayan brown bear), big game (e.g. Barking deer, chinkara, sambhar), and small game (e.g. Ermine, otters, and all but the most familiar birds), is also banned except under, and in accordance with, the conditions specified in a licence.”“The Wildlife Protection Act is an important example of international law influencing the evolution of Indian law. Several amendments made to it over the years reflect the provisions of CITES,” said Shibani Ghosh, an environmental lawyer and advocate-on-record at the Supreme Court.“There are, of course, several issues with the implementation of the law, and the institutional arrangements could be significantly strengthened. But the national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and conservation reserves that have been created under the Act have been absolutely critical to ensuring that we have at least some pockets of pristine nature, relatively unaffected by human intervention. The law protects not only floral and faunal species through prohibitions on illegal trade, hunting, etc. But also protects habitats and landscapes which are crucial for thriving ecosystems and continuity of species,” she added.Ranjitsinh drafted the bill by the middle of February 1972, and it was to be taken up by the Cabinet the next month. But there was a constitutional hurdle to be overcome. Wildlife protection and conservation was a subject allocated to the states under the Constitution.However, the Constitution provided a way out – a resolution by legislatures of two or more states authorising Parliament to pass such legislation, Congress leader and former Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh in his book “Indira Gandhi, A Life in Nature.”On April 12, Gandhi wrote to all chief ministers to get their support for the national law.Within months of the Act being passed, India’s ambitious journey to conserve the tiger, a symbol of India’s rich natural heritage, began on April 1, 1973, with the launch of the Project Tiger.