Killing Of Tigress 'Avni' :Supreme Court Issues Contempt Notice To Maharashtra Officials For Rewarding Shooters

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a contempt notice to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Vikas Kharge IAS and eight others for announcing reward to the killers of Avni, an adult tigress in Yavatmal district in 2018.

A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde issued notice on a contempt petition filed by wildlife researcher Sangeet Dongra, who said that the reward was granted flouting court directions.

Dongra also claimed that the forest officials killed 'Avni' on a baseless allegation that the animal was a man-eater responsible for the killing of 13 persons.

Dongra submitted that the post-mortem report of the tigress showed that she was not a man-eater.

At this point, the CJI asked how it was possible to know from the post-mortem report whether an animal was a man-eater or not.

"Man eater animals will have hair, nails, teeth of humans in stomach or intestines for 6 months. only animal hair was there. No human remains were found in her body", Dongra clarified.

However, the bench seemed unconvinced and sought more clarity on this matter. The bench asked Dongra to place on record authoritative materials to show that human teeth, nails, hair etc., will remain in the animal intestine for a period of 6 months and that such particles were not found within the body of 'Avni'.

At the same time, the bench observed that the petition raised an "important point" regarding the flouting of court orders prohibiting awarding of rewards to persons who kill wild animals.

In 2018, the Supreme Court had permitted the killing of 'Avni', officially known as 'T1', if the attempts to tranquilize her fail. The Court also ordered that no prize or incentive should be declared for any person responsible for the killing of the T1.

The tigress was killed in November 2018 after a massive over-night operation. The elimination of the tigress was condemned by several wild life activists, who termed it a 'state sponsored fake encounter'.

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