Amarinder served notice on pheasants issue

Shimla, Sep 6 (UNI) The Wildlife wing of Himachal Pradesh Forest Department has served a notice on Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, seeking full details of the exotic birds kept in captivity in his farmhouse at Dochi near Chail in Solan district of the state.

Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife) R S Chauhan said a notice was served on Mr Singh after forest officials found some exotic pheasants like ring-necked and golden pheasants at Punjab Chief Minister's farmhouse during their inspection.

Mr Singh has been given a fifteen-day time to reply to the notice, which seeks information on the number and species of birds kept in captivity, permission, if any, to keep the birds, since when they were being held captive and the source from where he got them, Mr Chauhan said.

He, however, added that the birds were not covered under the provisions of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act and as such no cognizable offence was made out.

Clarifying that Section 43 of the Act does not apply to pheasants, he said these were commonly sold in Mangolia and other countries.

The DFO said anyone could keep birds in captivity after seeking permission from the authorities concerned, who inspect the place were the birds would be kept, besides ascertaining other facilities as required under the law.

Lack of proper information led to confusion over the issue and things would clear out once the reply to the notice was received, he added.

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