Inept handling of wildlife offences has lowered the conviction rate and a large number of cases are pending investigation, the Comptroller and Auditor General has said.
The CAG report on Economic Sector for 2016-17 tabled in the Assembly on Friday said cases had not been charged in 630 wildlife offences registered in the 10 forest divisions test-checked, including 165 registered by the Range Officer, for want of the investigation report.
The average rate of conviction in wildlife offences disposed of by courts was 22% in the test-checked divisions. The inability of officers in gathering and furnishing evidence, failure in producing the articles seized from the crime spot, and procedural lapses have been cited as the reasons for the low conviction rate.
The audit has taken exception to the permission granted to a prominent actor for declaring the possession of animal articles consequent to Forest Department officials detecting four elephant tusks at his residence on December 21, 2011. After registering an offence against the actor, the government granted permission to declare possession of four articles by issuing an order specifically for him.
Then he sought permission to declare 13 artefacts made of ivory, stated to be family heirlooms. The government granted permission on February 17, 2016. The CAG observed that issuing a specific order for the benefit of an individual instead of publishing a notification was a violation of the Widlife (protection) Act, 1972.
