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
