The Supreme Court has restrained the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and other authorities from shifting deer remaining in the Deer Park in city's Hauz Khas area to forest zones in Rajasthan and other places.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan in an interim direction restrained translocation of deer presently housed in Deer Park and they shall be properly looked after by the authorities.
"For the time being, we restrain the respondents from shifting the existing deer out of the Deer Park at Hauz Khas, New Delhi. We also make it clear that the deer shall be properly looked after by the respondents," the order passed on April 30 stated.
The apex court also issued notice to the Director Horticulture, DDA, Chief Conservator of Forests, and Chief Wildlife Warden and posted the matter for hearing on May 16.
The order of the top court came on a plea by the New Delhi Nature Society which claimed that around 600 deer in Hauz Khas are at risk of being relocated without proper habitat assessments, veterinary checks, or safeguards for vulnerable groups like pregnant deer and fawns.
It said that the relocation amounts to turning domesticated animals into prey.The petition also stated that three batches of deer have already been relocated hastily from Delhi's Hauz Khas Deer Park and to predator-heavy sanctuaries in Rajasthan, in violation of wildlife protection laws.
The decision to relocate the deer from Hauz Khas followed the Central Zoo Authority's (CZA) decision to withdraw Deer Park's recognition as a 'mini-zoo.'
The society (petitioner) has claimed that around 600 deer in Hauz Khas are at risk of being relocated without proper habitat assessments, veterinary checks, or safeguards for vulnerable groups like pregnant deer and fawns. The relocation, the petitioner says, amounts to turning domesticated animals into prey.
The petition also stated that three batches of deer have already been relocated hastily from Delhi’s Hauz Khas Deer Park and to predator-heavy sanctuaries in Rajasthan, in violation of wildlife protection laws.
The Court has now stayed any further translocation of deer.
"For the time being, we restrain the respondents from shifting the existing deer out of the Deer Park at Hauz Khas, New Delhi. We also make it clear that the deer shall be properly looked after by the respondents," the Court's order said.
The move to relocate the deer from Hauz Khas followed the Central Zoo Authority’s (CZA) decision to withdraw AN Jha Deer Park's recognition as a 'mini-zoo.'
However, the petition alleges that the DDA and Forest Department have treated the CZA’s withdrawal of recognition as a green signal to dismantle the park altogether, without fulfilling legal requirements under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
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