Though the court has issued a verdict in favor of District Forest Office to auction off the prized wood, the office has not been able to do so due to the lack of clear government policy on auctioning the wood. [break]
The seized wood has been stored in the go-downs of District Forest Office for the last four years.
The office has not been able to initiate the process for auction also because the Maoists have taken the key of a go-down while the office has the key of another go-down, according to a staff at the office.
Trade in red sandalwood is banned by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which says the seized products of any endangered flora or fauna species should be sent back to the source country or destroyed.
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