In an ongoing public interest litigation over the deaths of tigers in Kanha Tiger Reserve, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the State to probe into the deaths of two more tigers and submit its findings.

The division bench of Chief Justice Alpesh Y Kogje and Justice Vivek Jain granted two weeks' time to the State. Per the website, the case is listed for November 16, 2026.

The PIL was filed by an advocate alleging that recent tiger deaths raise serious concerns regarding compliance with statutory safeguards, disease-surveillance measures, and monitoring protocols prescribed under the NTCA framework.

The petition referred to recently deaths of tigress T-141 and her four cubs, tigress T-122 and tiger T-220 during the period of March-May 2026. These deaths were linked to the Canine Distemper Virus, a highly contagious viral disease affecting carnivores.

The petition also relied on communications issued by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), which highlighted the prevalence of CDV among domestic dogs and recommended mandatory surveillance, routine testing during post-mortem examinations, exclusion of stray dogs from buffer zones, and standardised diagnostic procedures.

In the recent hearing, the court was informed about the deaths of two more tigers.

Background:

In the first hearing, the court had directed the Union and State Governments to file detailed responses regarding the preventive and curative steps undertaken by the authorities.

In the following hearing, the court passed an interim order directing authorities to immediately start vaccination of the dogs who are moving in that periphery/territory where the tigers move and take all preventive measures available to them to check the spread of disease in the core/buffer area.

The State, thereafter, informed the court that steps were taken to prevent the spread of CDV and that more than 2000 dogs were vaccinated.

In the last hearing, the court had asked the State to file a progress report on the ongoing vaccination programme.

For Petitioner: Senior Advocate Ansuman Singh and Advocate Prateek Rusia

For Union: Deputy Solicitor General SM Guru and Assistant Solicitor General Sunil Jain

For State: Deputy Advocate General Swapnil Ganguly