ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will Monday (today) resume hearing in a petition moved by Pakistan Animal Welfare Society against the permission granted for import of endangered species of animals and particularly the elephants.
A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah will conduct hearing of the petition moved by the Society through its counsel Muhammad Ali Raza Advocate.
Previously, the bench had directed the Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change to submit a detailed report, inter alia, explaining how exotic and endangered animal species are being imported and allowed to be caged by private citizens in conditions which do not meet their requirements.
Ms Zona Zaidi, Deputy Conservator (Wildlife) had appeared on behalf of the Ministry of Climate Change and stated that exotic animals and endangered species can only be imported in accordance with law.
The court had observed that she, however, could not give a plausible explanation regarding import of exotic animals e.g. lions, reptiles, giraffes, etc. and their confinement in cages by citizens or in private zoos.
The IHC bench added that the import and confinement of exotic endangered animal beings appears to be in violation of the jurisprudence evolved by this court in the cases titled ‘Islamabad Wildlife Management Board v. Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad, etc’ and others.
It stated that this Court has unambiguously acknowledged and held that animal beings have natural rights and that they cannot be subjected to unnecessary pain and suffering. “It has been held that captivity of animal beings by depriving them from their natural habitats and keeping them in an environment that does not meet their behavioral, social and physiological needs amount to violation of their natural rights and subjection to unnecessary pain and suffering. The animal beings cannot be deprived from their natural habitats for the purpose of human entertainment,” maintained the IHC bench.
The IHC Chief Justice said, “It is an acknowledgement and affirmation that animal species have rights and that it is a duty of humans to protect them from harm. The survival of human species on this planet is dependent on the existence of the animal species and their natural habitats.
Therefore, the court directed the federal government to satisfy this Court that the import and caging of exotic and endangered species is not in violation of the jurisprudence evolved by this court and the international commitments of the State of Pakistan.
It also directed the Chairman, Federal Board of Revenue to submit a detailed report, inter alia, explaining under what authority of law exotic and endangered animal species are being allowed to be imported. The report is expected to contain details of animals imported in the last two years i.e. from 01-01-2019 to 30-06-2021.
In the petition, the Society invoked the constitutional jurisdiction of the court under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 seeking a direction to the Federal Government to fulfill its obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Pakistan Trade Control of Wild Fauna and Flora Act, 2012.
The counsel contended that the federal government has failed to make the Act of 2012 operational. He stressed that because of the delay in making the aforementioned enforced law operational, the international commitments of the State of Pakistan under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora are likely to be breached.
He, therefore, stressed that it is not in public interest to allow import of endangered species of animals in violation of the international commitments of the State of Pakistan, particularly the elephants.