Under fire after tigress Avni was killed instead of being captured, State Minister for Forests, Finance and Planning, Sudhir Mungantiwar, speaks exclusively to The Hindu. The minister has argued that the killing of Avni was sanctioned by the Supreme Court and no law was broken. Instead of slipping into technicalities such as details of the post-mortem report, one should see whether the apex court’s order has been followed, he said. Edited excerpts:

You are accused of ordering Avni’s killing...

The Avni issue had reached the Supreme Court. It is incorrect to say that I took the decision. It has been questioned if Avni was a man-eater. My department presented facts to prove the same. The court had approved the killing of Avni if attempts to capture her failed. The Forest minister does not approve such decisions. According to National Tiger Conservation Authority guidelines, a panel comprising a wild-life warden prepares a proposal and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest approves it. The procedure has been followed.

Why wasn’t she captured instead of being killed?

First of all, people should decide their key objection. Is it that the tigress was killed or the manner in which it happened? We made several attempts to catch her alive. We brought elephants, paragliders, used sprays, nets and dogs. Over 200 officials worked round the clock for two months. The only thing left then was to interpret the court order. We had even tried to tranquilise her for two months and only then was the final decision taken. If the court wanted us to only capture her, they would have clearly told us to capture only. But they did not. You must also consider the local population’s anxiety.

The post-mortem report hints that Avni was killed while looking away but your department calls it self-defence.

The only thing that needs to be considered here is whether the action was as per the Supreme Court order. The State and Centre have formed committees to check this. I have made a written request to the Chief Minister that he appoint a five-member committee of Supreme Court judges for this. Truth will come out. Did the court order us to kill using a specific gun? These technical points will be discussed in front of the committee. Whatever your reservations are, you can cite laws and place them in front of the committee.

What do you say to allegations about serving the mining industry’s interests?

Show me at least one piece of paper which proves this. When they say that the motive behind the killing was to give the land to mining companies, they also accuse the Supreme Court. The application of mining was made in 2009, sent to the Centre in 2011 and approved in 2012. That land is 60 km away from the tigress’ spot. There are wildlife acts and regulations in place. Mining rights have to be auctioned and this jungle has no minerals. I think there has to be a law which requires accusers to come up with some evidence.

Your own party’s senior leader, Maneka Gandhi, has criticised you for killing Avni. How do you respond to her demand for your resignation?

It would have been better had she called me or my department before making any allegations. Asking for my resignation is laughable. Is Maneka Gandhi responsible for deaths due to malnutrition in this country? Is the Agriculture minister responsible for farmers’ deaths? If the number of tigers increase, those that die naturally also increase. How can you blame all deaths on me?

Has the party and the Chief Minister backed you?

Ms. Gandhi is the only person from my party criticisng me. There has to be another reason behind her allegations and it will come out soon. Even local Congress leaders supported me. The Chief Minister has supported me too. But most importantly, Nitin Gadkari, the second most powerful minister, has supported me.

Ms. Gandhi termed Shafat Ali, the hunter appointed by the State government to kill Avni, as anti-national.

I wonder why she has not passed on the information about his anti-national activities to the home department. He has been working with nine State governments on man-animal conflict issues. He had killed a tigress in her constituency in 2009. He was working for her then. Why does she want me out of the cabinet instead of putting him in jail if he is really anti-national?

She has also questioned your tree plantation programme, calling it a fraud.

I don’t plant trees. I was creating an atmosphere conducive to planting trees. It is amusing that she lacks even this basic general knowledge. Calling the programme a fraud is an insult of people of Maharashtra. We have a command room with details of each tree being planted.

You spoke about the rural population’s anxiety over Avni’s presence. Are you saying they supported this move completely?

I come from the constituency with highest number of tigers and therefore we don’t require anyone lecturing us on tiger conservation. Discontent has been brewing within the minds of the rural population over how a climate is being created to excuse a man-eater.

Vidarbha has a sizeable number of tigers and with various infra projects coming up and forest boundaries getting hemmed in, the man-animal conflict could be elevated further. Is your department incapable of handling this problem?

We are not at all incapable. This is the only incident in last four years. How can you call the department incapable? Giving the cry of a man-animal conflict, just after the death of one tigress, is not correct. It didn’t happen in Pench or Melghat that have a larger tiger population. We are rehabilitating villages from core sector. This department too has rescued many animals such as leopards, bears. At a time when the death of a tigress is being politicised, I have the responsibility to maintain the confidence of those officers and farmers working for tiger conservation.

There have been protests across cities against this killing. Would you say there is an urban-rural divide?

Protests in cities are the result of being misled by handful of people. These protests are result of not understanding the facts. Whether it is with political intention or not will be clear soon.

While the Opposition targeted you, your ally Shiv Sena has also been critical. How have you failed to convince them?

You should ask this to Uddhavji. If he isn’t listening to me at a time when I have all answers to every objection, then only he can answer why he is taking this stand.