Plant 25 trees for killing 25 vultures, Gauhati High Court tells Assam man

Assam man accused of lacing a goat carcass with pesticide.

June 01, 2019 10:41 pm | Updated 10:41 pm IST - GUWAHATI

Google Maps image locates Kamalapur in Assam.

Google Maps image locates Kamalapur in Assam.

The Gauhati High Court has ordered a villager in Assam to plant and take care of 25 trees as punishment for poisoning as many vultures to death three months ago.

The State Forest Department had filed a case against Dhanpati Das of Kamalpur, about 40 km north of Guwahati, for lacing a goat carcass with pesticide that killed the 25 rare vultures.

Initial reaction

On April 4, the High Court granted him bail after he had spent 28 days in custody under Section 429 (mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming animals or rendering them useless) of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 51(a) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Hearing the case a month later, the court made an ecological statement by asking him to plant saplings and nurture them. The man, though, said he did not poison the carcass in the first place.

Green activists welcomed the judgment. “The man could have been sentenced to six months in prison. But this form of punishment should have a positive impact on the person and make him contribute to nature,” Bibhab Talukdar of NGO Aaranyak said.

Tree per citizen

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Saturday announced on social media the launch of the One Citizen One Tree campaign ahead of the World Environment Day for re-greening the State affected by unregulated coal and limestone mining.

“With the State fast losing its forest cover, the campaign aims at people’s involvement in planting more trees. All districts will be covered in the mass plantation drive wherein all indigenous plants raised by the communities across the State will be provided to citizens who want to participate in the campaign,” a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.