Plea by PEMA in Delhi HC seeks better testing infrastructure for wildlife forensics Labs; notice issued
A group of artisans and traders approached the High Court claiming that criminal charges had been filed against them due to false positives for 'Shahtoosh' guard hair.
The Delhi High Court's division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued notice to the Centre government, Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Zoological Survey of India, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), and Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts on Tuesday in a petition seeking to improve, supplement and enhance existing forensic testing infrastructure available to all Forensic Science Laboratories involved in wildlife forensics.
The division bench has listed the matter for February 14, 2023 for further hearing.
The plea sought direction to improve labs involved in the analysis of suspected 'Shahtoosh' (Tibetan Antelope) shawls, in particular, to incorporate modern 'Scanning Electron Microscopic' technology and DNA testing procedures.
The petition, filed by Advocates Tanveer Ahmed Mir, Kartik Venu, and Shikhar Sharma on behalf of the Pashmina Exporters and Manufacturers Association (PEMA), Kashmir Pashmina Organization, and Tahafuz, sought directions to the respondents to enforce and incorporate the Quantitative / Qualitative identification metrics already mandated by BIS into all forensic reports issued by forensic science laboratories engaged in wildlife forensics, specifically those engaged in the analysis of suspected wildlife (Tibetan Antelope).
The petitioners are registered societies comprising exporters, manufacturers, traders, and artisans of Pashmina shawls carrying out their trade in India alleging that they were aggrieved by customs and criminal prosecutions initiated against innocent Pashmina trade stakeholders on the premise that their consignments for export contain articles ‘suspected to be Shahtoosh guard hair,' which have a negative impact on the industry as a whole.
The plea alleged that the sole basis for these prosecutions stem from forensic reports issued by forensic science laboratories using technologically obsolete methods referred to as 'Light Microscopy', which incorrectly conclude that various exporters' consignments are 'positive for Shahtoosh' guard hair.
The plea stated that consequent to such forensic reports, the accused stakeholders face onerous customs procedures, significant monetary losses, delays in the release of seized shipments, resulting in loss of business, reputation, mental harassment, and agony, as well as the initiation of multiple criminal proceedings and potential incarceration under various Acts.
“Currently, there are only two impaneled forensic science laboratories by the State, being the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, as well as the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, both of which employ Light Microscopy upon being directed to examine various consignments suspected to be ‘shahtoosh’,” the plea stated.
The plea also stated that the method of morphological testing through light microscopy, which is the default method used by Indian wildlife forensics today, is recognized both domestically and globally to be outdated, technologically obsolete, and highly prone to false-positive results.
Moreover, the plea stated that the physical properties and tangibility of Pashmina and Shahtoosh fibers are so similar that distinguishing them based on morphological characteristics is nearly impossible, especially when using the standard Light Microscopy method.
Case Title: Pashmina Exporters & Manufacturers Association & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.