The Supreme Court on Wednesday banned tiger safari at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. In its judgment, the court said it was clear that the national wildlife conservation plan recognises the need for wildlife conservation beyond the protected areas.

Following the order, the tiger safari would now be allowed only in peripheral and buffer zones of the Jim Corbett National Park.

The top court also slammed former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and then divisional forest officer Kishan Chand for illegal construction and felling of trees at the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

"They have thrown the public trust doctrine in the wastebin," the court said.

Also citing a quote from Mahabharata, the court said, "The forest perishes without the tiger and thus the forest should protect all the tigers."

Source: India Today