The Lahore High Court on Monday accepted an application for an early hearing of a petition requesting safe passage for migratory birds and fixed January 23 for its hearing.
The court will hear two petitions on the matter on January 23. Advocate Kashif Solomani had filed an application stating that his petition could not be heard on January 17 as the judge had been part of a full bench that day. He said the case had been relisted for later however the matter was a serious one and needed to be resolved on priority. The LHC accepted the petition and directed the registrar to fix the hearing for January 23 to coincide with another hearing on the matter.
The LHC, hearing Solomani’s petition, had summoned wildlife experts from the World Widlife Fund (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for assistance on the matter. The court had also issued a notice to the federal government for replies.
The petitioner had said that birds from Siberia migrated to Pakistan in December each year and returned to their native country when the weather improved. During their stay in Pakistan, these birds were often hunted in violation of international conventions. He said the government had issued 25 licences to hunt migratory birds this season. He requested the court to ensure safe passage for these birds.
Bird migration starts in November and peaks in February. The birds start flying back to Siberia in March. There are seven such routes in the world.
A large number of birds including water fowls, cranes, teals, pintails, mallards and gadwalls visit Pakistan each year. Some species like the white-headed duck, houbara bustard and Siberian crane also travel on this route.
Wildlife experts have said that the number of birds migrating to Pakistan has decreased by at least 70 per cent over the past few years.
In a similar petition by Advocate Kaleem Ilyas, the LHC on January 16, issued the ministry of foreign affairs, the Wildlife Department and the Punjab government notices for replies by January 23. The petition sought to curtail the hunting of houbara bustards and challenged 33 special hunting permits issued by the government to members of the Saudi royal family and other gulf states.
The court directed the ministry of foreign affairs to submit a list of all foreigners (Arab kings and their family members) who were issued special permits to hunt houbara bustards for the season 2013-14. The court also directed international organisations, the WWF and the IUCN, to assist the court in the matter on January 23.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2014.