Supreme Court Dismisses Kerala MLA's PIL Seeking Directions To Tackle Human-Wildlife Conflict, Allows Him To Move HC

The Supreme Court on Monday (April 1) dismissed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Kerala MLA PV Anvar seeking directions to the Central Government to formulate an action plan to tackle human-wildlife conflict in the Kerala State.

The Bench Comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and PB Varale heard the matter today.

This year in March, P.V. Anvar moved the Supreme Court citing the tragic deaths of 13 individuals in Tamil Nadu and Kerala due to deadly encounters with wild animals.

Representing the Nilambur constituency in Kerala, Anwar sought a direction from the court to instruct the Central government to develop a technology-driven strategy and action plan aimed at mitigating human-wildlife conflicts on a national scale and in specific states.

When the matter was called on for hearing today, the Court straightaway asked the counsel representing the petitioner “What will the court do? If it's a human-wildlife conflict.”

The counsel in light of data submitted by him stated that the state is facing the problem of human-wildlife conflict resulting in killings of innocent villagers.

“This is the problem, both of us are aware of it. I came from a region where this happens on a daily basis. So don't tell us that. Decisions are pending in those High Courts, and the High Courts are dealing with it. Why should you file a petition here (Supreme Court)?”, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia asked the petitioner's counsel.

The counsel then tried to show the large impact of the problem on the other states stating that the problem is not confined to only Kerala but other states too.

Noting that the petitioner had not done proper research before filing the PIL, Justice Dhulia intervened and said “you have not done a home-work.”

“There are states where there is minimum forest cover, there are areas states have these problems, West Bengal has it, Uttarakhand has it, UP Has it, MP has it. These states have they own unique problem as far as human-wildlife conflict is concerned and they are dealing with it.”, Justice Dhulia added.

As a clarificatory note, in the PIL the petitioner stated that Kerala's substantial forest cover, spanning almost 30% of its total area, creates a breeding ground for frequent human-animal conflicts. According to the Petitioner, the state's geographic landscape, dominated by forests, directly impacts the livelihoods of nearly 50 lakh families, especially those residing as settler farmers in forest-fringed regions.

The counsel didn't stop and responded to the Judge's queries citing a figure of a total of 909 deaths happened due to human-wildlife conflict in the Kerala State.

“How will you stop such incident…you would agitate the Tiger?”, Justice Dhulia asked the counsel in a dissatisfactory voice.

The counsel prayed the court to look to the prayers, however, the Bench refused and dismissed the Petition with the liberty to approach the concerned High Court.

Case Title: P.V. ANVAR (M.L.A.) vs. UNION OF INDIA, Diary No.- 11294 - 2024