New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today directed traders of mongoose hair products to deposit their stocks with the wildlife department of the Government of Delhi. A two-member division bench of the Court was hearing two separate petitions filed by traders of mongoose hair products opposing the Union Government’s move upgrading all mongoose species from Schedule IV to Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.The counsel for the Government of India today told the Court that the notification had been issued by Mr SC Sharma, Additional Director of Forests (Wildlife), whose rank was equivalent to an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, and that his rank was higher than a Joint Secretary. The counsel quoted the instructions regarding printing of the Gazette of India saying, “The notification to be published in a Gazette extraordinary or the forwarding letter should invariably be signed in ink by an officer not lower in rank than a Joint Secretary.”

The traders’ petitions had alleged that the power to issue such a notification has been exercised by an officer (Additional Director General Wildlife) who was not empowered to issue such a notification. The Court , in its order on November 22, 2002, had noted the allegation by the traders and asked the Union Government to file a short affidavit on the issue.

After hearing response filed by the Government of India, the bench today directed the traders to deposit their mongoose product stocks in the custody of the wildlife department of the Delhi government. The matter has been fixed for hearing on January 28, 2003.

While considering the two separate impleadment applications filed by Wildlife Trust of India, the division bench comprising Mr Justice Devender Gupta and Mr Justice AK Sikri also allowed the WTI to intervene in the proceedings. WTI was represented by Mr Pankaj Kumar Singh, Advocate.

Two separate petitions had been filed by traders seeking a stay on the notification issued by the Government of India upgrading the all species of genus Herpestes (mongooses) to Part II of Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, on September 30, 2002. The notification was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, on October 11, 2002. Mongooses were earlier in Schedule IV of the Act which accorded limited protection to the species. The traders in their petitions also urged the Court to declare Section 61 of the Wildlife Protection Act to be not in conformity with the Constitution.

The notification accorded the species a much higher level of protection and penalty for violation equal to that of a Schedule I species. This notification came into effect from December 10, since a time period of a maximun 60 days is granted to people to delcare articles made from the any part or derivative of the species.