The High Court on Thursday ordered notice to the government and other respondents in response to a PIL challenging the nomination of 10 members to the Karnataka State Board for Wildlife.
The government had re-constituted the Board by a notification dated October 16, 2020.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka was hearing the PIL filed by Bhoja Raju G M, a consulting environmental engineer.
The government had nominated 10 persons from amongst eminent conservationists, ecologists and environmentalists as members of the Board.
The petition contended that the re-constitution of the Board contravenes the provisions under section 6 (1) (d) and (e) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The petition challenges the nominations of Chetan B, Dr Somasekhar A R, Alok Vishwanath (son of BJP MLA from Yelahanka S R Vishwanath), Naveen J S, Vinod Kumar B Naika, Dinesh Singhi, K S N Chikkeruru (retired IPS officer), Thyag Uttappa and Joseph Hoover as members of the Board.
The petition claimed one of the nominations, representing a non-government organisation dealing with wildlife, is a politically motivated nominee, while the nine others do not possess eminence either in conservation, ecology and environment and none represent the interests of Scheduled Tribes as required under the law.
The petition also challenged the proceedings of the 15th meeting of the Board on January 19, 2021, conducted in the presence of S R Vishwanath.
The petitioner claimed that the meeting in the presence of Vishwanath, who is also the Chairman of Bangalore Development Authority, is in violation of Rule 9 of the Karnataka State Board for Wildlife Rules,
2006.
The petition said that at the behest of Vishwanath, the chief minister, who is the chairperson of the Board, rejected the proposal for declaration of ‘Greater Hesaraghatta Conservation Reserve’. The issue was discussed at the 15th meeting of the Board, it said.
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