Krishnadas Rajagopal : New Delhi, Wed Feb 22 2012, 01:02 hrs
The Gujarat government’s argument that there is no need to move the
Asiatic lions from the state’s Gir territory prompted the Supreme Court
to observe on Tuesday that the big cats are not the “property” of the
state, but belong to the country.
“No state can claim the right over an animal merely because the
animal is housed in a particular state. It does not become the property
of that state, it belongs to the country,” a Forest Bench of Justices K S
Radhakrishnan and C K Prasad shot back at the state government.
Gujarat is making a spirited case of its distinction as the only
state in the country to have Asiatic lions, and is objecting to a plan
to re-locate some of the Asiatic lion population to Madhya Pradesh.
The opposition from the state comes despite the National Board
for Wildlife also voting against the Gujarat government’s reluctance to
shift the lions.
Justice Radhakrishnan told senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing
for the Gujarat government, that the most important question before the
court is to preserve a “critically endangered species” and not witness a
litigation fought tooth-and-nail about whose lions they are.
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Gir-lions-country-s-property--says-SC/915005/
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