Report of the Tiger Task Force - PRS

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TIGER TASK FORCE REPORT JOINING THE DOTS ■The proposed national wildlife crime control bureau,with its headquarters at New Delhi and nine regionaloffices, will require creating 260 new posts at variouslevels to ensure its operational efficacy and to meetthe objectives set. Funds for the bureau will be madeavailable from the allocation for the 10 th Five YearPlan. The proposal is being sent to the concernedministries for inter-ministerial consultations.Proposed modificationsAt the central level1. Create a small and effective crime bureau at thecentral level. The bureau at the Centre should beheaded by a senior officer (in the super-timescale). The appointment of this person should bedone using a selection criterion, which seeks torecruit a suitable person. The person will reportto the additional director general of forests.2. At the central level, the bureau should have threeofficials, besides the needed support staff:● For police investigation and coordination withcrime control agencies (preferably a policeofficer or intelligence bureau officer ondeputation)● For coordination with states and maintaining thecrime database (preferably a person with expertisein data analysis and tools for networking)●For coordination with agencies working on theinternational border and follow-up with cases3. The bureau should be able to get on deputationfield operatives for intelligence gathering onwildlife crimes from the police force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, territorial army and others.4. There should be a coordination committee underthe chairpersonship of the secretary, Unionministry of environment and forests, withmembers from the Union ministry of homeaffairs, the Central Board of Excise and Customs,the Central Bureau of Investigation, BorderSecurity Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police andrevenue intelligence. This committee, with thedirector (wildlife preservation) as membersecretary, should review every six months thefollowing:●●●●Inter-departmental coordinationMonitoring progress of important casesNew initiativesMonitoring implementation of court directivesrelating to wildlife crime5. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) must begiven specified tasks in investigating wildlifecrime. Its role will be to work closely with thewildlife crime bureau so that it can findsynergies in combating crime. However, the keyresponsibility of the CBI would be to investigatethe organised crime networks as a specialinvestigation team. It should take over charge ofcertain key special and serious cases, for instancethe Sansar Chand case.At the state level6. There should be a wildlife crime cell in eachtiger range state of the country. Each nodeshould be staffed with personnel for legalsupport, intelligence gathering and criminalinvestigation, and database monitoring.Central assistance should be provided towards thesalary of officers on deputation to the state-levelwildlife crime control cells.One officer of the level of deputy conservator offorests should be on deputation to the policeheadquarters to facilitate close coordination.A state-level coordination committee under thechairpersonship of the chief secretary, with thedirector general of police, home secretary, armycommander of the region as members, and the chiefwildlife warden as member secretary, should meetevery three months to monitor the following:1. Inter-departmental coordination2. Progress of important cases3. Extremist engineered disturbances4. Low intensity conflicts affecting wildlife5. Need for deployment of forces in and aroundprotected areas6. Implementation of court directives/governmentof India directivesThe Task Force envisages the wildlife crime bureau, inthis modified structure, will require 80-100 positions,many of which would already be in the field.It urges that this structure must beoperationalised urgently.Forensic laboratory facilitiesThe Wildlife Institute of India has a functionalforensic laboratory, which at present is the onlyspecialised laboratory to analyse seized wildlifematerial for prosecution support in wildlife crimes. Ithas developed reference materials and protocols fortesting to identify the species to which the seizedmaterial pertains. Recently, it has acquired muchneededhigh-end equipment to carry out such tests atthe molecular biology level to rapidly identify thespecies and, eventually, the regional origin andindividual animals of a particular species. However,work on protocol development for this is presentlybeing done.This laboratory is meant more to developreference material and protocols on individualspecies in a research framework. The actual work ofThe way ahead 61
■ JOINING THE DOTS TIGER TASK FORCE REPORTbulk of the tests of wildlife crime material will haveto be sent out to regional, central and state forensiclabs like the ones at Kolkata and Jaipur. Only themore sophisticated work and difficult cases shouldcome to this laboratory.This laboratory is experiencing difficulty as itsscientists, who test the material, are summoned tocourts, upsetting their main task of much neededresearch in wildlife forensics. Accordingly, theWildlife Institute of India has proposed to the Unionministry of environment and forests to supportsetting up of forensic cells in central, regional andstate forensic labs. The Tiger Task Force, too, feelsthe existence of such cells is necessary.Recommendations1. The wildlife crime bureau must be set up immediately. The Task Force has reviewedthe current proposal for a wildlife crime bureau and has worked to modify it to ensurethat it is lean, mean and effective. We strongly believe that unless the crime bureau canwork effectively on different levels — one, to strengthen the enforcement at the state level;two, to investigate international trade links; and three, to break the crime of largepoachers — it will not be possible to effectively deal with the crime.For this reason, the Task Force suggests a two-tiered approach: set up a wildlife crimebureau at the central level, with nodes in each tiger range state in which there will be acapacity to both investigate and follow up on the crime. In the course of its visits throughthe different states, the Tiger Task Force was constantly told by officials that the keyweakness was their inability to investigate the crime at the state and inter-state levels, andto be able to pursue the conviction in courts because of lack of legal support.The detailed structure of the wildlife crime bureau as proposed by the Task Force isgiven above. In summary, the Task Force proposes the following:a. At the central level, a stronger bureau with the capacity to develop a country-widedatabase of wildlife crime to enable coordination, to be able to pursue important casesat the state level and follow up with investigative agencies like the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI), on the investigation as well as the conviction of large organisedcrime networks.b. The CBI must be given certain tasks in investigating wildlife crime. The role of the CBIwill be to work closely with the wildlife crime bureau so that it can find synergies incombating crime. However, the key responsibility of CBI would be to investigate theorganised crime networks and to take over charge of certain key cases, such as theSansar Chand case.c. There is a need to involve and to train other police agencies, such as the Indo-TibetanBorder Police, as well as the other security forces, to ensure greater vigilance on ourborders as well. The Task Force suggests that this should be an explicit task of thewildlife crime bureau: it should take the lead in organising these training programmeswith the Wildlife Institute of India and other specialised institutions.d. Forensic cells should be set up in central, regional and state forensic laboratories toinvestigate wildlife specimens and produce evidence in wildlife crime.e. The wildlife crime bureau must be made into a statutory body under the Wildlife(Protection) Act, 1972 to make it effective and give it autonomy.2. It will not be enough to only investigate the crimes: criminals must be convicted. In thisregard, the Task Force has deliberated very carefully with legal experts to understand theweaknesses in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 so far as its criminal provisions areconcerned. It is very clear that there is a need to strengthen the Act, particularly for what aredesignated critically endangered species, so that there is a greater deterrence for criminalactions against these species resulting in speedier trials. The current Act is weak in thisregard and, therefore, in the majority of cases it leads to delayed hearings and a dismal stateof the rate of convictions. The Task Force has detailed out the changes that are required inthe Indian Wildlife Act to strengthen these provisions (see Annexure XI: Amending theprovisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972). This amendment must be done urgently.62 The way ahead
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THE REPORT OF THE TIGER TASK FORCEJ
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ContentsIntroductionExecutive summa
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IntroductionThe Tiger Task Force wa
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TIGER TASK FORCE REPORT JOINING THE
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04Action plan for changeKey recomme
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05References
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