Animals get first right over forests: SC

The Supreme Court declined a plea by the Kerala government to lift the night ban on vehicular movement through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

The court asserted that animals have first right over forests. “Forests belong to animals and tribals who live there. But you have carved a road inside that and then want to use it,” a bench presided over by Chief Justice H L Dattu said.

The Kerala government had filed an application, seeking permission from the court to allow vehicles to move in a convoy through the reserve forest thrice in a night.

It claimed that the night ban in operation from 6 pm to 9 am caused major inconvenience to the passengers travelling by road between Karnataka and Kerala, since they had to wait at the borders overnight.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Kerala, relied upon an RTI reply and stated that only 14 wild animals died between the years 2000 and 2012, countering the accusation that a large number of animals had lost their lives because of the night traffic.

The apex court, however, remained unmoved and referred to its 2013 ban on tourists taking the Andaman Nicobar Trunk Road that passed through Jarawa tribe habitats. The court had stopped commercial and tourism activities within a five kilometer radius of the tribal reserve in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.