Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of

India enacted for protection of plants and animal species. Before
1972, India only had five designated national parks. Among other reforms,
the Act established schedules of protected plant and animal species;
hunting or harvesting these species was largely outlawed.

The Act provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants; and for
matters connected therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto. It extends to
the whole of India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir which has its
own wildlife act. It has six schedules which give varying degrees of
protection. Schedule I and part II of Schedule II provide absolute protection
- offences under these are prescribed the highest penalties. Species listed
in Schedule III and Schedule IV are also protected, but the penalties are
much lower. Schedule V includes the animals which may be hunted. The
plants in Schedule VI are prohibited from cultivation and planting. The
hunting to the Enforcement authorities have the power to compound
offences under this Schedule (i.e. they impose fines on the offenders). Up
to April 2010 there have been 16 convictions under this act relating to the
death of tigers.
 Definitions under the Act (Section 2)

"animal" includes amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, and their young
ones, and also includes, in the cases of birds and reptiles, their eggs.

"animal article" means an article made from any captive or wild animal, other
than vermin, and includes an article or object in which the whole or any part of such
animal has been used and an article made therefrom.

"hunting" includes
(a) capturing, killing, poisoning, snaring, or trapping any wild animal, and every
attempt to do so
(b) driving any wild animal for any of the purposes specified in sub clause
(c) injuring, destroying or taking any body part of any such animal, or in the case
of wild birds or reptiles, disturbing or damaging the eggs or nests of such birds or
reptiles.

"taxidermy" means the curing, preparation or preservation of trophies.

"trophy" means the whole or any part of any captive or wild animal (other than
vermin) which has been kept or preserved by any means, whether artificial or
natural. This includes:
(a) rugs, skins, and specimens of such animals mounted in whole or in part
through a process of taxidermy
(b) antler, horn, rhinoceros horn, feather, nail, tooth, musk, eggs, and nests

. "uncured trophy" means the whole or any part of any captive animal (other
than vermin) which has not undergone a process of taxidermy. This includes a
freshly killed wild animal, ambergris, musk and other animal products.

"vermin" means any wild animal specified in Schedule V.

"wildlife" includes any animal, bees, butterflies, crustacean, fish and moths; and
aquatic or land vegetation which forms part of any habitat

Hunting (Section 9)[edit]

This section describes what constitutes hunting and the intent to hunt. Hunting of wild
animal is prohibited

Ownership (Section 40 & 42)[edit]

Regarding ownership issues and trade licences . Ownership will be not transfer to
another party he also a regarding issues to trade licence .

Penalties (Section 51)[edit]

Penalties are prescribed in section 51. Enforcement can be performed by agencies

such as the Forest Department, the Police, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB),
the Customs and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Chargesheets can be filed
directly by the Forest Department. Other enforcement agencies, often due to the lack of
technical expertise, hand over cases to the Forest Department.

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 Offences

For offences relating to wild animals (or their parts and products) included in schedule-I
or part II of Schedule- II and those relating to hunting or altering the boundaries of a
sanctuary or national park the punishment and penalty have been enhanced, the
minimum imprisonment prescribed is three years which may extend to seven years, with
a minimum fine of Rs. 10,000/-. For a subsequent offence of this nature, the term of
imprisonment shall not be less than three years but may extend to seven years with a
minimum fine of Rs. 25,000. Also a new section (51 - A) has been inserted in the Act,
making certain conditions applicable while granting bail: 'When any person accused of
the commission of any offence relating to Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II or offences
relating to hunting inside the boundaries of National Park or Wildlife Sanctuary or
altering the boundaries of such parks and sanctuaries, is arrested under the provisions
of the Act, then not withstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973, no such person who had been previously convicted of an offence under this Act
shall be released on bail unless -

(a) The Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity of opposing the release on
bail; and

(b) Where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the Court is satisfied that
there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offences and that
he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail".

In order to improve the intelligence gathering in wildlife crime, the existing provision for
rewarding the informers has been increased from 20% of the fine and composition
money respectively to 50% in each case. In addition to this, a reward up to Rs. 10,000/-
is also proposed to be given to the informants and others who provide assistance in
detection of crime and apprehension of the offender.

At present, persons having ownership certificate in respect of Schedule I and Part II

animals, can sell or gift such articles. This has been amended with a view to curb illegal
trade, and thus no person can now acquire Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II animals,
articles or trophies except by way of inheritance (except live elephants).

Stringent measures have also been proposed to forfeit the properties of hardcore
criminals who have already been convicted in the past for heinous wildlife crimes.
These provisions are similar to the provisions of 'Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances Act, 1985'. Provisions have also been made empowering officials to evict
encroachments from Protected Areas.
Offences not pertaining to hunting of endangered species

Offences related to trade and commerce in trophies, animals articles etc. derived from
certain animals (exception: chapter V A and section 38J) attracts a term of imprisonment
up to three years and/or a fine up to Rs. 25,000/-.

Indian Forest Act, 1927

The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was largely based on previous Indian Forest
Acts implemented under the British. The most famous one was the Indian
Forest Act of 1878. Both the 1878 act and the 1927 one sought to
consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, or significant
wildlife, to regulate movement and transit of forest produce, and duty
leviable on timber and other forest produce. It also defines the procedure to
be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a Protected
Forest or a Village Forest. It defines what is a forest offence, what are the
acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, and penalties leviable on violation
of the provisions of the Act.
 History

The Indian Forests Act of 1865 extended the British Colonial claims over forests
in India.[1] The 1865 act was a precursor to the Forest Act of 1878, which truncated the
centuries-old traditional use by communities of their forests and secured the colonial
governments control over the forestry.[2] The act of 1865 empowered the British
government to declare any land covered with trees as a government forest and make
rules to manage it.

Reserved Forest

Reserved Forest is an area mass of land duly notified under the provisions of India
Forest Act or the State Forest Acts having full degree of protection. In Reserved Forests
all activities are prohibited unless permitted. Reserved Forest is notified under section
20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 [Act 16 of 1927] or under the reservation provisions of
the Forest acts of the [State Governments of the Indian Union]. The manner in which a
[Reserved Forest], shortly written as RF, has to be constituted is described in section 3
to 20 of the Act. It is within power of a State Government to issue a preliminary
notification under section 4 of the Act declaring that it has been decided to constitute
such land, as specified in a Schedule with details of its location, area and boundary
description, into a Reserved Forest. such a notification also appoints an officer of the
State Government, normally the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district, as
Forest Settlement Officer. The Forest Settlement Officer fixes a period not less than
three months, to hear the claims and objections of every person having or claiming any
rights over the land which is so notified to be reserved. He conducts inquiries into the
claims of rights, and may reject or accept the same. He is empowered even to acquire
land over which right is claimed. For rights other than that of right of way, right of
pasture, right to forest produce, or right to a water course, the Forest Settlement Officer
may exclude such land in whole or in part, or come to an agreement with the owner for
surrender of his rights, or proceed to acquire such land in the manner prescribed under
the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 [Act 1 of 1894]. Once the Forest Settlement Officer
settles all the rights either by admitting them or rejecting them, as per the provisions of
the Act, and has heard appeals, if any, and settled the same, all the rights with the said
piece land [boundaries of which might have been altered or modified during the
settlement process] vest with the State Government. There after, the State Government
issues notification under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 declaring that piece of
land to be a Reserved Forest.
 DR. SHAKUNTALA MISRA NATIONAL REHABILITATION UNIVERSITY,
LUCKNOW

A PROJECT ON

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

(UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF MRS. VIJETA DUA)

A PROJECT ON FOREST AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

Mrs. Vijeta Dua Kanti Mohan Nayak

Assistant Procter Roll No. 27
Faculty of Law B.com.LL.B(Hons.)
D.S.M.N.R.U (2016-17)

References

1. http://www.isca.in/IJSS/Archive/v4/i4/2.ISCA-IRJSS-2014-327.pdf

2. Leela krishnan P., Environmental Law in India Lexis Nexis 3rd ed., (2012)

3. Clean India Mission beyond politics: PM Modi, Economic Times, (2014)

4. Environmental Jurisprudence- Polluters Liability by Indrajit Dube, ed. 2007

5. Environmental Law Case Book by P Leelakrishnan, 2nd Edition 2006

6. www.scconline.com
 ACKNOWLEGEMENT

I KANTI MOHAN NAYAK feel myself highly elated, as it gives me tremendous

pleasure to come out with work on the topic FOREST AND WILDLIFE
PROTECTION ACT,.

First of all I express my sincere gratitude to my Mam Mrs. Vijeta Dua who
enlightened me with such a wonderful topic. Without Her , I think I would have
accomplished only a fraction of what I eventually did. I thank her for putting her
trust in me and giving me a project topic such as this and for having the faith in me
to deliver. Her sincere and honest approach have always inspired me and pulled me
back on track whenever I went off-track. Mam , thank you for an opportunity to
help me grow. I also express my heart felt gratitude to staff and help for the
completion of this project.
Next I express my humble gratitude to my parents for their constant motivation and
selfless support. I would thank my brother for guiding me.

THANKS YOU.