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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) held that the authorities concerned of states and Union Territories are expected to comply with the instructions and guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India regarding the exemption of forest officers and vehicles from election duty.
The Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal, headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, noted that ECI has already issued a circular on February 8, 2023, which exempts certain categories: "Vehicles of the World Health Organization, UNICEF and all the organisations of the UN, All India Radio, Doordarshan, and the Forest Department (wildlife sanctuaries, national sanctuaries and National Games Park) will not be requisitioned for election duty. vehicle, vessel or animal that is being lawfully used by a candidate or his agent for any purpose connected with the election of such candidate should be requisitioned (Section 160(1) proviso of the RP Act, 1951)." ECI, through its other circular dated June 7, 2023, exempts certain categories of officials and staff, including senior officers of the Indian Forest Service and territorial staff of the Forest Department. In the submissions, the bench held that the authorities of states and Union Territories are expected to comply with the guidelines issued by ECI regarding the exemption of first officers and their vehicles during election duty. The NGT has issued the said order on the plea filed by advocate and wildlife activist Gaurav Kumar Bansal. Bansal, in his petition, has contended that ECI, vide its Instruction Letters dated February 8, 2023, and June 7, 2023, has instructed all the states and UTs not to appoint requisite forest officials as well as forest vehicles. Despite the clear directions/instructions of the Election Commission of India, many states and union territories are not only forcing their respective forest departments to provide vehicles and premises but are also issuing directions to forest territorial staff to join the election duty. Bansal has also shown various letters that the State of Uttarakhand has issued for the requisition of forest staff and forest vehicles. For example, vide order dated 07/12/2024 State of Uttarakhand has requisite DFO - Bageshwar for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha Election duty. At a time when the Forest Department is heavily understaffed (by around 40% of their total workforce), deploying the forest officials on election duty and acquiring their vehicles shall hamper the protection and conservation of forests and wildlife of our country, submitted Bansal in his plea. Bansal also argued that forests are all open resources and open treasure-houses of rare and invaluable bio-geological resources and there is always a possibility of huge plundering of the forest produce in the form of valuable timber, mines, mineral resources and other forest resources from the forest land by the mafias, which needs to be checked by carrying out constant, consistent and continuous enforcement activities like patrolling and raids by the Forest Department. (ANI)
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