ASLSA, Aaranyak organise workshop for judicial officers in Assam
GOLAGHAT(ASSAM): Judges of Gauhati High Court, Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice A M Bujor Barua dealt in detail about various aspects and effective implementation of sections and sub-sections of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 while addressing a workshop of judicial officers from seven of the districts of Assam here on Sunday.
The well-attended “Workshop for Judicial Officers in respect of the present scenario on wildlife crime and trade” was organized in Birangana Sadhoni auditorium at Kalakshetra in Golaghat under the aegis of Assam State Legal Services Authority (ASLSA) and Aaranyak, a prominent biodiversity conservation and research organisation based in Guwahati, in association with District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Golaghat.
The workshop was participated by judicial officers of seven Upper Assam districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Biswanath, Sivasagar and Lakhimpur.
The Judges of Gauhati High Court highlighted the following points in their deliberations in respect of dealing with wildlife crime and trade under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972:
* Scope and ambit of Police and Forest officials in respect of investigation;
* Offence relating to possession/transport and trade- offence relating to wildlife protection /habitat;
* Report of expert, forensic test in respect of search, seizure and confiscation;
* Arrest and detention of accused.
* Filing of offence report/charge sheet;
* Cognizance – Chapter VI, Section 55 of Wildlife Protection Act- whether committal proceeding is required or the Special Judge can take cognizance directly.
* Recording of evidence: Power under Section 311 Code of Criminal Procedure- Section 165 of Evidence Act;
* Section 51 AND 55 of the Wildlife Protection Act;
* Sentencing – probation, fines and imprisonment;
* Compensation
Addressing the workshop as a resource person, renowned wildlife conservation expert and Secretary General cum CEO of Aaranyak, Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar highlighted the alarming global scenario on wildlife crime and illegal trade of wildlife parts. He flagged the need for high-level of coordinator among the judiciary, enforcement agencies including Police and Forest/Wildlife officials and NGOs working in wildlife conservation sector for prevention and mitigation of such crimes.
Another resource person in the workshop, Rahul Dutta who has been working very closely for over two decades with enforcement agencies in prevention and investigation of wildlife crimes, threw light on some specific cases of wildlife crimes and challenged posed by those to enforcement agencies.
The CEO of Aaranyak, Dr Talukdar who is also Chair of Asian Rhino Specialist Group of the IUCN and Asia Coordinator of International Rhino Foundation, said, “Given the steeping wildlife crime graphs all over the world and particularly Assam and the rest of the region which is part of a global biodiversity hotspot, such workshops will go a long way in eliciting prompt and proactive response from judicial officers in dealing with cases related to wildlife crimes.
“Aaranyak is planning to organise a workshops on wildlife crime scenario involving all concerned state and central enforcement agencies besides Judges and judicial officers in near future in Guwahati in pursuit of its goal to facilitate coordination among all the agencies in dealing with wildlife crimes,” Dr Talukdar said.