HC directs wildlife board to consider declaring Hesaraghatta grasslands as Conservation Reserve

The division bench of Acting Chief justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty was hearing a batch of petitions by environmentalists who sought the quashing of the decision taken by the Karnataka State Board for Wildlife on January 19, 2021.

Bengaluru

The petitioners in the Karnataka high court had contended that the Hesaraghatta region situated in Bengaluru is of ecological significance and requires protection. (HT archives)

The Karnataka high court has directed the State Board for Wildlife to again consider the proposal to declare the 5,010-acre grasslands in Hesaraghatta as a Conservation Reserve.

The Board had rejected the proposal in January 2021. Environmentalists had challenged this. On July 29, the court quashed the order of the Board and directed it to consider the matter again.

The division bench of Acting Chief justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty was hearing a batch of petitions by environmentalists who sought the quashing of the decision taken by the Karnataka State Board for Wildlife on January 19, 2021. The Board, which had MLA of Yelahanka constituency S R Vishwanath as a special invitee, had rejected the proposal to declare the Hesaraghatta Grasslands comprising 5,010 acres as a Conservation Reserve.

The court said that the Board “has passed the order in a cryptic and cavalier manner without adverting to the relevant criteria as prescribed in Section 36A of the (Wild Life Protection) Act.” Castigating the Board’s order, the court said, “The impugned order reflects non-application of mind. Therefore, since it being cryptic and since it suffers from the vice of non-application of mind, the same cannot be sustained in the eye of law. It is accordingly quashed.”

The Chief Conservator of Forests, Bengaluru had filed a detailed report with the Board to consider and declare Hesaraghatta Grasslands as Greater Hesaraghatta Grasslands Conserve Reserve citing that it was the only remaining grassland region in Bengaluru.