SC grants 7 days to Jharkhand govt for notifying Saranda forest region as wildlife sanctuary

author-image
NewsDrum Desk
New Update

New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) Observing that it does not want to send an official to jail, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Jharkhand government to take a decision within seven days to declare ecologically rich Saranda forest region a wildlife sanctuary.

The matter pertained to a long-pending proposal to notify the Saranda and Sasangdaburu forest areas in West Singhbhum district as a wildlife sanctuary and conservation reserve, respectively.

The state government, in its affidavit, had earlier said it proposed to notify an area of 57,519.41 hectares as against the original proposal of 31,468.25 hectares as the wildlife sanctuary.

On September 17, a bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai had pulled up the state government for what it described as “totally unfair conduct” and “dilly-dallying tactics” in declaring the Saranda forest region a wildlife sanctuary.

It also asked the chief secretary of Jharkhand, Avinash Kumar, to personally appear before it on October 8 to show cause as to why the state government has not notified the wildlife sanctuary.

On Wednesday, Jharkhand's top officer appeared and put forth the submissions through senior advocate Kapil Sibal.

Seeking a week’s time, Sibal said that a decision will be taken in the meantime.

“Either you do it or we will do it by issuing a writ of mandamus,” the CJI said, adding that it was granting the opportunity to the state government to declare the 31,468.25 hectares as the wildlife sanctuary.

“We are not interested in sending anybody to jail,” the bench said and posted the matter for further consideration next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the bench permitted PSU Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, to keep mining iron ore from its existing mines, which are in close vicinity of the proposed wildlife sanctuary, in national interest. The bench clarified that mining by the firms including SAIL can be done from operation mines or from those mines for which leases were granted earlier.

The solicitor general said that SAIL provides steel to missions like ‘Chandrayan’ and other projects of national importance and majority of iron ores come from the mines near the proposed wildlife sanctuary.

The bench further directed the state and other authorities not to grant any fresh leases for mining in the area.

At the outset, Sibal attempted to clarify the position of the state government and the reasons for delay in notifying the wildlife sanctuary.

He said that the confusion with regard to total area sought to be declared as the wildlife sanctuary arose due to an internal communication between the state authority and the Wild Life Institute of India.

Senior advocate K Parameshwar, who is assisting the bench as an amicus curiae, said that the state had undertaken to declare 57,519.41 hectares of land as wildlife sanctuary as against the original proposal of 31,468.25 hectares.

The bench said at least there is no confusion and hassles in declaring 31,468.25 hectares as the wildlife sanctuary.

The bench has now posted the matter on October 15.

Earlier, irked over non-compliance of its orders, the bench had said, "The Jharkhand government is in clear contempt of our order dated April 29, 2025...we therefore direct the chief secretary of Jharkhand to remain present in this court at 10.30 am on October 8 and show cause as to why contempt proceedings be not initiated." The Wild Life (Protection) Act provides for the declaration and management of a conservation reserve.

It says: "The state government may, after having consultations with the local communities, declare any area owned by the government, particularly the areas adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries and those areas which link one protected area with another, as a conservation reserve for protecting landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna and their habitat." The bench was critical of the fact that the state government, instead of complying with its earlier orders and notifying the sanctuary, set up a committee headed by its official on May 13 to further deliberate on the issue.

Cautioning against the non-compliance, the CJI, in a lighter vein, had said, "The other day, the president (Droupadi Murmu) was telling me that Jharkhand has very good jails." The bench was hearing a matter arising out of the state's non-compliance with earlier directions issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

On April 29, the bench had pulled up the Jharkhand government for delaying the process of notifying the sanctuary.

It noted that despite the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife-cum-chief wildlife warden) submitting a proposal as far back as November 29, 2024, the Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change had sent it back in March 2025 for further comments, effectively stalling the process.

Expressing disapproval, it had observed that the government appeared to be "unnecessarily delaying the matter by sending files from one authority to another".

Abu Bakr Siddiqui, secretary of the Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, had personally appeared before the court and tendered an unconditional apology.

It had accepted his apology and dispensed with his further personal appearances.

The state government informed the bench that it has now expanded the proposed sanctuary area from the earlier 31,468.25 hectares to 57,519.41 hectares, and earmarked an additional 13,603.806 hectares to be notified as the Sasangdaburu Conservation Reserve. PTI SJK SJK KVK KVK