The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday summoned from the federal authorities the documents regarding licences issued to the Arab dignitaries for hunting the endangered houbara bustard in Pakistan. Headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M Shaikh, a division bench of the SHC directed the federal law officer to file comments of the foreign affairs secretary, the interior secretary and others on the petition that challenged the legality of special permits for hunting endangered species.
The petitioners, Lal Khan Chandio and Rahib Kalhoro, submitted that the federal government had issued licenses to various Arab dignitaries for hunting the endangered houbara bustard (locally know as Tilor) in violation of the international laws. This was not the first time the government had issued permits for hunting but this illegal act was being perpetuated since many years. Apart from the foreign dignitaries, the local influential persons were also involved in hunting in collusion with the provincial authorities. The petitioners alleged that they have taken over their fields spread over thousands of acres and were hunting with dignitaries of Arab countries the protected species.
They added the owners, workers and peasants were not being allowed to enter their fields and look after their crop and livestock. The counsel for the petitioners told the court that houbara bustard also figured on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list as vulnerable and feared to be decreasing by 30 percent a year in Pakistan alone. He said this bird was declared to be among endangered species in 1912 and a permanent ban on its hunting was placed in 1971. Although a ban already existed, another ban was imposed on hunting in 1992, albeit with provision of special temporary license for Arab royals.
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