TN government tells HC that authorising police to deal with forest offences may lead to dual control

CHENNAI: With the issuance of a G.O. by TN government for redeploying personnel for the formation of zonal bureaus, Tamil Nadu Forest and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (TNFWCCB) would soon become operational with an officer in the rank of Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) heading it.

A status report filed by Srinivas Ramachandra Reddy, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) and chief wildlife warden, before a special bench of the Madras High Court, comprising justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy, stated that the G.O., dated September 14, 2022, was issued for re-deployment of personnel to form four zonal offices in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Ramanathapuram.

The headquarters of TNFWCCB would be in Chennai and it would be headed by a CCF who would guide and monitor the activities of zonal offices, it said.Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran, assisted by special government pleader (SGP) T Seenivasan, submitted the status report before the bench, explaining the measures taken to control wildlife offences.

Each of the zonal offices will function under an Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), assisted by two forest range officers, two foresters and one driver.The duties and responsibilities are to combat forest and wildlife crime through a well-designed institutional network, gather information and intelligence, coordinate with various organisations, contribute to the creation of a state-level crime data bank, developing SOPs and to map poaching and illegal trade hotspots, it stated.

With the issuance of the latest G.O. for formation of the zonal offices, the TNFWCCB, for which, administrative approval through a G.O. was issued in November last, would soon become operational.

Meanwhile, TN government expressed reservations over the court’s direction to empower police officers for registering cases of wildlife offences under Section 55 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Saying that a meeting of top officials of the departments concerned, chaired by the Chief Secretary, discussed the matter, the department said wildlife crime was a specialised one concerning the forest department.

Therefore, such offences should be dealt with professionally to ensure cases would be taken to their logical end. Authorising police officers to file charge sheets for forest offences might lead to dual control and ultimately the focus may be lost, it said, adding, however, that cooperation would be sought whenever required.