M A I N   N E W S

Case registered, but peacocks missing
By Sarbjit Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 10 — Though the Wildlife Department authorities have booked Mrs Malwinder Kaur and her servant Jai Singh, residents of Lohgarh village near Zirakpur, under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act-1972 they (authorities) have failed to seize the peacocks, the vital case property.

The case was registered last late evening following a team of wildlife officials led by Mr P.C. Antalia, Divisional Forest Officer( Wildlife), Patiala, inspected the residential premises of Malwinder Kaur in connection with the alleged retention and breeding of peacocks in captivity. Mr Antalia was accompanied by wildlife inspector, Jaswant Dev and four guards and a head keeper.

Mr Antalia sought the support of neighbours of Mrs Malwinder Kaur to enter the premises to inspect the premises. Mr Antalia told TNS that a case had been registered under Section 39 and 50 of the Act which deals with the illegal retention of such birds in human captivity. Peacock, a national bird and peafowl fall in Schedule I of the Act and these are always taken as government property. Retaining these in captivity, their breeding, selling and gifting is a punishable crime.

The challan will be filed in the competent court on Monday against both the accused for launching legal proceedings. The case was registered in the presence of two neighbours , who have also signed as witnesses according to Mr Antalia.

He said Mrs Malwinder Kaur told the inspecting team that she had kept the peacocks and the servant Jai Singh was helping her in their rearing. The birds were with them for the past three years or so. Earlier the family had a green house of flower plants etc but later it was converted into enclosures to breed peacocks etc. Mr Antalia is confident that the case has a solid basis.

However, as no case property has been seized by the authorities concerned, the case has already been diluted to a large extent, according to wildlife experts. They said all the relevant case property, including incubator, eggs and peacocks and peafowls should have been seized by the department officials.

One of the members of the inspection party told TNS that the peacocks were released before the raiding party came to the premises to seize the material. Where have the peacocks gone? This is the question only the authorities concerned can tell, but the mishandling in the case is very clear, say wildlife experts. According to informed sources, the raiding party only saw three or four peacocks moving around in nearby fields.

Earlier, following a tipoff that the peacocks have been kept in human captivity, a team of senior officers of the Wildlife Department, including the Chief Wildlife Warden, had visited the house on June 7 and found a large number of peacocks in the enclosures and also incubator and other arrangements. Mr V. Mohindera, Chief Wildlife Warden, and Mr Surjit Kumar Jyani, Minister for Forests and Wild life, told TNS yesterday that there were over 40 peacocks with their captors and the action had been initiated.

As the team members who visited the house on June 7 were vested with powers to search the premises and to seize the peacocks, they should have acted then and there to collect the vital case property. Why action was delayed for two days?

Informed sources said Mr Jyani had yesterday made it clear to the officials concerned to take action otherwise be prepared to face action. He had also sought action taken report from the officials concerned at the earliest possible. Under Section 50 of the Act, the wildlife officials concerned have the powers to arrest without warrants any person suspected to be involved in the violation of the Act. They have their own exclusive system, independent of the police, to register the case, arrest the persons and to produce them in a court of law as per the laid down rules.

Meanwhile, five peacocks were reportedly found dead in a farm near Pinjore. How these birds died can also be a subject of interesting investigation? As Pinjore falls in the territory of Haryana, wildlife experts say officials from Punjab should contact their counterparts in Haryana to collect facts about the mortality of peacocks in that area.

It is significant to mention that the population of the national bird is on the decline. The thinning forest cover and the extensive use of pesticides by farmers to protect their crops against pests and insects have proved deadly for birds, including peacocks.