State Board for Wild Life
(Sec.6): The State Government shall within a period of six months from the date of the commencement of the Amendment Act of 2002 constitute a State Board for wild life consisting of the following members, namely
a) The Chief Minister of the State and in case of the Union Territory, either Chief Minister or Administrator, as the case may be - Chairperson.
b) The Minister in charge of Forests and Wild Life - Vice Chairman.
c) Three members of the State Legislature or in the case of a Union Territory with Legislature, two members of the Legislative Assembly of that Union Territory.
d) Three persons to represent non-governmental organizations
dealing with wild life to be nominated by the State Government.
e) Ten persons to be nominated by the State Government from amongst eminent conservationists, ecologists and environmentalists including at least two representatives of the Scheduled Tribes.
f) The Secretary to the State Government or the Government of the Union Territory, as the case may be, in charge of forests and wild life.
g) The Officer in charge of the State Forests Department.
h) The Secretary to the State Government, Department of Tribunal Welfare.
i) The Managing Director, State Tourism Development Corporation.
j) An officer of the State Police Department not below the rank of Inspector General.
k) A representative of the Armed Forces not below the rank of a Brigadier to be nominated by the Central Government.
l) The Director, Department of Animal Husbandry of the State.
m) The Director, Department of Fisheries of the State.
n) An officer to be nominated by the Director, Wild Life Preservation.
o) A representative of the Wild Life Institute of India, Dehradun.
p) A representative of the Botanical Survey of India.
q) A representative of the Zoological Survey of India.
r) The Chief Wild Life Warden, who shall be the Member Secretary.
The Board shall meet at least twice a year and shall regulate its own procedure including quorum. Any defect in the constitution of the Board or any irregularity in the procedure of the Board shall not affect the merits of the case (Section 7).
Prior to the Amendment Act of 2002, the Principal Act provided for the constitution of Wild Life Advisory Board.
Despite such clear provisions of the Act, many States in the country have shown laxity in the enforcement of Wild Life Act. In the case of Centre for Environmental Law, WWF v. Union of India [(1997) (6) SCALE 8 (SP)), the Supreme Court directed the States which had either not constituted Wild Life Advisory Board or where the term of the Board had expired, to constitute Boards within two months. The Court also directed in this case that State Governments, which had failed to appoint Wild Life Wardens, should appoint Wardens for all the areas within the State.
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