KATHMANDU, June 1: In a landmark victory for wildlife conservation, the Supreme Court (SC) has issued an order to investigate private possession of illegal wildlife parts and confiscate them.
The apex court in its mandamus order on Tuesday instructed the government to act against discriminatory and negligent enforcement of wildlife laws in controlling private possession of illegal wildlife parts such as trophies, pets, animal hides and other body parts. Law enforcement agencies in Nepal currently ignore the elite with such possessions while disproportionately penalize the marginalized communities.
The top court has ordered the government to take strict action against people who illegally display and use wildlife trophies and parts regardless of who they are. The verdict is expected to help deter those engaged in such wildlife crimes and uphold Nepal’s noteworthy commitment to conservation efforts.
A joint bench of SC Justices Sapana Malla Pradhan and Til Prasad Shrestha issued a writ of mandamus against the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Home Ministry, Forest and Environment Ministry and relevant departments for failing to implement the law in a full, fair and consistent manner. The case was filed on May 16, 2018 by conservation scientist Kumar Paudel in response to private possession of illegal wildlife parts and the public flaunting by influential members of the society, including former head of the government.
On May 30, 2023, the justices pronounced their verdict in favor of Paudel’s petition.
The wildlife lesson
Prior to filing the case, Paudel was conducting research to find ways to deter wildlife crime in Nepal. He interviewed more than 150 people convicted of wildlife crimes across prisons in the country, where he found many of the imprisoned were poor, marginalized and illiterate. The trigger for filing this case was a national broadcast of an interview with ex-Prime Minister Kirti Nidhi Bista at his private residence, where a tiger pelt was prominently displayed in the background.
Witnessing the unfair treatment meted out to individuals from different parts of society, Paudel decided to take up the issue to the court. Additionally, bothered by the disrespectful display of threatened wildlife and fearing such rampant exhibition of privately held wildlife parts will further encourage poaching and illegal trade, Paudel demanded action from the government to investigate the legality of the possession of the tiger pelt.
Talking to Republica, Paudel said the court order is an important step in bringing thousands of illegal wildlife parts under government’s possession, regardless of who owns them. “I am encouraged and feeling very optimistic to see the Supreme Court deliberate on wildlife crime control with diligence. I am thankful for the opportunity to draw on my research to strengthen Nepal’s wildlife conservation policy," he said.
Paudel further said that the court order closes a critical loophole that has been openly exploited by the privileged class of society without consequence, while the people from the marginalized communities suffered fines and incarceration for similar crimes. "This verdict will help ensure justice is served in a fair and impartial manner. Too often, elite members of our society are shielded from consequences by existing social structures," he added. "I am elated that this court order not only compels the government to uphold our environmental laws but also reminds us of the need to challenge injustice to shatter the status quo."
Nepal’s stringent laws prohibit the illegal harvest and use of protected wildlife, with high fines of up to Rs 1 million and prison sentences of up to 15 years. But enforcement has consistently focused on Nepal’s poorest and most marginalized communities, who are often involved in illegally harvesting and trading wildlife – while systematically overlooking wildlife ownership by Nepal’s elite, rich and powerful.
Paudel in his writ petition demanded the government to conduct a thorough investigation of wildlife parts in private possession to ascertain its legality, prosecute and seize illegal wildlife possessions, where acceptable permits were not submitted, maintain records of how many wildlife parts were legally in possession prior to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973, and act with utmost priority and urgency since any delay might propel the criminals to hide, destroy or sell the evidence. The full text of order is yet to be publicized.
Paudel is a conservation scholar-practitioner from Nepal with an M Phil in conservation leadership from the University of Cambridge. He is the founder of Greenhood Nepal, a science-driven nonprofit conservation organisation.
Paudel said the court has not only accepted the demands outlined in the petition but also ordered the government to take further strict actions to curb illegal wildlife possession through the use of effective mediums to reach out and raise awareness among the public on the illegal possession of wildlife parts and the legal consequences beyond publishing gazettes, and seizing wildlife parts to be preserved for educational and research purposes to benefit conservation instead of destroying them.
The case was presented by Advocate Padum Bahadur Shrestha and his team Shatkon Shrestha, Raju Phuyal, Bishnu Kumar Thokar, Shuban Raj Acharya.
