The Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed regarding monkey menace in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Nuh.
The PIL has been filed by one Anirudh Singh Shera.
Notice of motion was issued and status reports have been filed on behalf of State of Haryana as well as Municipal Corporation, Faridabad in respect of the steps being taken by authorities for controlling the monkey menace in the concerned areas, in accordance with the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.   
From the record the Court noted that none had caused appearance on behalf of the petitioner consecutively on the last two dates. The position is not any different; neither the petitioner nor anyone on his behalf is present to pursue the matter.  
Be that as it may, in view of the stand set out by the authorities in the status reports,  the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli do not find any reason to keep this petition pending. Accordingly, the petition is disposed of by the High Court.
However, the Court granted the petitioner or any other affected persons liberty to file a fresh petition, in case any cause of action survives or arises.

The Kerala High Court today dismissed a petition filed by actor Mohanlal challenging the order passed by the JFCM Court in Perumbavoor, which dismissed his petition to withdraw the prosecution case against him in connection with illegal possession of ivory.

The Single-Judge Bench of Justice A. Badharudeen, however, allowed the revision petition filed by the State Government against the order of the Magistrate Court, and remanded the matter for fresh consideration.

The actor was booked under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for possessing ivory illegally. However, Mohanlal had denied the charge and contended that he had legally obtained the ivory.

In June last year, the court of JFCM, Perumbavoor had dismissed the petition filed by the State of Kerala, seeking withdrawal of prosecution proceedings against Mohanlal for possessing ivory illegally.

The Criminal Revision Petition moved by Mohanlal through Advocate K.R. Radhakrishnan Nair had sought to set aside the judgment passed by the Magistrate, citing that the only ground relied upon by the Magistrate was that the validity of the certificate of ownership issued by the Government as per declaration made under Section 40(4) of the Wildlife Protection Act was still pending before the Kerala High Court in a Public Interest Litigation.

The Magistrate had dismissed the application by the Assistant Public Prosecutor for withdrawal of the prosecution case against the petitioner-accused.

A revision petition was also filed in the High Court by the government of Kerala, challenging the order of the JFCM Court, Perumbavoor. The Counsel for the State of Kerala argued that the actor had not violated the law, and had only possessed the ivory of a dead elephant.

The Court then questioned the government’s stance and asked whether the State of Kerala would grant such an exemption to a common man also, in case he possessed the ivory.

(Case title: V Mohanlal vs State of Kerala & Ors)

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde on Tuesday asked Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to consider adding the jurisdiction of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) to the National Green Tribunal and inform the bench in a week.

The CJI said this during arguments in the case examining the threat posed by high-tension powerlines in Rajasthan to birds such as the endangered Great Indian Bustard and similar other birds. Senior advocate Shyam Divan was arguing when the CJI, leading the bench which also comprises Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramaniam, said if the NGT is dealing with the matter, they could wait for the NGT order. To this, Divan said the NGT doesn’t have jurisdiction over the WPA even though it has the Forest Act and the Environment Protection Act in its purview.

In response to this fact, CJI Bobde asked AG Venugopal if WPA can be brought under the jurisdiction of the NGT. The attorney general said he will take it up.

Earlier, the Court questioned Divan on what happened to its order of constituting an expert committee. Divan replied a committee had been formed with three persons and the Rajasthan government and other respondents had not objected to the panel. He added that the population of the Great Indian Bustard is down to 100 and one bird died as recently as September due to high-tension cables.

The CJI said, “The lines must have been erected by some licensees, why don’t you join those licensees?”

Divan said they have already been made parties. Moreover, steps have been taken to put power lines underground. He said diverters, which hangs from transmission lines, should be installed which will help the birds to identify the direction.

The CJI sad, “How can we order both for diverters and also making the transmission lines underground?” Divan replied that diverters can be an immediate solution.

Also Read: Supreme Court asks AG to consider if Wildlife Act can be added to NGT jurisdiction

The CJI then said the bench will give orders for replacing overhead transmission lines with underground power lines in specific areas and would need to study map. Divan said the map had already been placed before the court. Reacting to this, the CJI said they are only grey, blue and white lines and areas cannot be identified on the map, and asked for a better map on the next date of hearing