Court steps in to halt import of elephants
Islamabad High Court had come to rescue of a chained elephant Kaavan last year
The Islamabad High Court has stopped the government from importing elephants declaring it a violation of laws related to the protection of wildlife.
Hearing a petition filed by Pakistan Animal Welfare Society, Chief Justice Athar Minallah directed the Ministry of Climate Change (MCC) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to nominate authorised persons and send them for the Sept. 28 hearing to appear before the court with all the record.
Earlier, in March, a private firm, Mohammad Hanif and Engineer Construction Pvt Ltd, had challenged in the Pakistan
Supreme Court with a Peshawar High Court’s order rejecting the plea to import elephants.
In the present case, however, the petitioner through Advocate Ali Raza has sought a general ban on import of endangered species including elephants.
The animal import is governed under the Pakistan Trade Control of Wild Fauna and Flora Act 2012.
In its order, the court directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to ensure that import of elephants is not allowed in violation of the Act of 2012 read
with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the conditions prescribed under the Import Control Act 2020,” the court order said.
Violation of law
The petitioner in his plea had submitted that the government had failed to fulfil its obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Pakistan Trade Control of Wild Fauna and Flora Act 2012.
The petitioner sought directions by the court urging the federal government to fulfil its obligations as per law.