New Delhi, Aug 29: In a major ruling to help stop poaching of wild elephants and other tusked animals, the supreme court has ruled that the law enacted by parliament banning trade in ivory would extend to all kinds of ivory and not only to elephant tusks. A bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, justice s b Sinha and Justice Arun Kumar said the ban on trade of ivory was imposed "not only for the purpose of banning trade in elephant ivory but with a view to create a blockade of the activities of poachers and others so that a complete prohibition in trade in ivory is achieved." The apex court also upheld the validity of the amendments to the wild life protection act disentitling all persons in general and traders in particular from keeping in their possession any animal article including imported ivory.
The ruling was given by the court while dismissing an appeal filed by one Balram Kumawat who said that the ban on ivory trade would not apply to imported tusks of now extinct mammoths, a pre-historic animal prevailing in Alaska and Siberia, as they are very different from elephant ivory.

Rejecting their plea, Justice Sinha, writing for the bench, said the intention of parliament was to put the ban on all kinds of ivory.
Bureau Report