Houbara bustard hunting: LHC interim verdict announced
Shares
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court ( LHC) on Wednesday recalled its verbal orders of putting temporary ban on hunting of houbara bustard.
The court observed that during the hearing of Houbara bustard case, it verbally imposed ban on hunting of houbara bustard on basis of report of houbara bustard commission while invoking precautionary principle.
Later, the report was reviewed in detail for dictating written order and it was found that further clarification was required on the principle, the court further observed.
Therefore, the verbal order is recalled and the matter is fixed before an appropriate bench on February 8, says a written order by LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah in houbara bustard case released here.
On January 25, Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah put a ban on hunting of houbara bustard till a survey confirms the sustainability of the rare bird by December 2018, while hearing two identical petitions moved by Advocate Sheraz Zaka and Kaleem Ilyas seeking a ban on the hunting of the internationally protected bird and cancellation of permits
issued to foreign dignitaries.
Earlier, the commission headed by Dr Pervez Hassan submitted a report to court and recommended a ban on the hunting to protect breed of houbara bustard till completion of a survey for determining the bird's sustainability in December 2018. The commission in its report said the hunting of bustard might endanger this rare species. It said the commission was not sure if the breed of the bird was under any serious threat of being vanished from the planet as no survey had so far been conducted to the effect.
