KATHMANDU, JUNE 20

The Supreme Court has issued a mandamus telling the government to ban use of wildlife parts (bone, horn, and other residual parts of dead animal (akhetopahar) and issue public notice to the public to submit those trophies to the government.

This was stated in a landmark order passed by a division bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla and Til Prasad Shrestha on May 30 in response to a writ petition filed by Sindhupalchok resident Kumar Paudel against the government. The SC released the full text of the order today.

The court observed that the government should issue a public notice telling the public that if they possess any wildlife parts

without a permit or ownership certificate, they must be submitting those wildlife parts to the government within a specified timeframe. The notice should clarify that if they are submitted voluntarily within that period, no legal action will be taken. Adequate time should be provided, and the process should facilitate voluntary handover of the animal parts, the court observed.

The apex court said that anybody who has been possessing wildlife parts before the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973 came into existence, they should obtain a permit proving that they inherited as those parts form their ancestors or as religious and cultural heritage but if they had obtained those parts after the Act came into existence, the possessor should handover those parts to the government. The government will have to confiscate wildlife parts from the public if they had obtained after the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973 came into being.

The court observed that a new public notice needs to be issued as the previous two notices issued in 1976 and 1979 cannot be deemed adequate in today's context.

The SC ruled that if anybody who has wildlife parts do not voluntarily submits after a public notice is issued, the government should take action against such person as per the law.

The courts says that the government will also have to put identification mark on the wildlife parts submitted to the government or for which the public obtains permit and keep a record of the same as the government deems appropriate. The government will have to destroy or preserve those body parts based on their significance or use them for DNA study as per international practices. The court observes that if the government has to destroy animal parts, it should ensure it that does not adversely impact the environment or cause minimum impact on the environment.

The court observed that awareness campaign should be launched to make people living near national parks that collection and use of wildlife parts is illegal. The SC said that the government should take action against those people who use animal parts as luxury.

The top court observed that regulation and destruction of such animal parts reduce their demand and discourage both hunting and purchasing and that will also strengthen the country's commitment to wildlife conservation and supports the global stance against the exploitation of endangered species.

Regulation and destruction of animal parts, the court added, minimizes the risk of these items re-entering the illegal market through theft or corruption.

The court said burning and destroying seized or otherwise collected wildlife parts would send a message to the world that wildlife parts should hold no market value and the true beauty of wildlife lies in their living state.