Avadh Kaushik v. Suneesh Buxy & ANR

$~24 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + CONT.CAS(C) 953/2019 AVADH KAUSHIK .....Petitioner Through:

Petitioner in-person, through VC.

versus SUNEESH BUXY & ANR .....Respondents Through:

Mr. Ashish K. Dixit, CGSC with Mr.

Umar Hashmi, Mr. Gautam Yadav, Ms. Iqra Sheikh, Ms. Deepika Kalra, along with Mr. A.K. Sahoo, UDC.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT SHARMA

O R D E R

% 19.02.2026 1.

This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. 2.

The present petition under Sections 11 and 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 read with Article 215 of the Constitution of India, 1950 seeks the following prayers: - "(i) Appropriate orders/directions thereby directing the respondents/contemnors No. 1 and 2 to appear in person before this Hon'ble Court and to explain their conduct for committing contempt of this Hon'ble Court by not complying with their own undertakings given before this Hon'ble Court particularly contained in order dated 25.05.2016 passed in W.P. (C) No. 6677 of 2014 and thereafter, take suitable action against them; (ii) appropriate orders/directions thereby directing the respondent No.

1 or to any other authority concerned, to forthwith take all necessary actions and steps to ensure the safety and security of the zoo visitors in order to avoid the repetition of the incident of entering the visitors in the enclosures of wild animals in zoo, (iii) appropriate order/directions imposing exemplary costs of the The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

present petition;

(iv) Pass such other/ further orders as may be deemed fit and proper to this Hon'ble Court under the facts and Circumstances of the present case and in the interest of justice." 3.

The present petition has been filed for alleged wilful disobedience of the directions passed by the learned Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 25.05.2016 in W.P.(C) 6677/2014 which read as follows: - "2.

It is brought to our notice that during the pendency of this writ petition a Quick Response Team (QRT) has been constituted by the National Zoological Park, Delhi vide order dated 09.09.2015 to deal with any emergency situation in the Zoo and an emergency protocol has been developed, apart from providing in-house training to staff at the National Institute of Disaster Management. The said order shows that in case of any emergency the QRT will rush to the spot and deal with the emergency situation in accordance with the emergency protocol. 16 number of emergency situations have also been identified and listed therein. In the affidavit dated 01.12.2015 filed on behalf of the National Zoological Park, it has further been explained as under:- "3.

...

It is further submitted that the QRT is always battle ready and all the equipments are in best working conditions. In addition, constituting the Quick Response Team and developing an emergency protocol the following steps have also been taken to enhance the security of the visitors in the National Zoological Park: i.

All the exhibits housing Tigers, Lions, Bears, Hyena and other animals with deep moats are provided with a folded rope ladder for emergency use. At each point, a private security guard has been posted during visiting hours of the zoo.

ii.

At the entry gate for the visitors who are visiting the National Zoological Park announcement are being done more frequently for 'dos and don'ts' though it exists before the incident.

iii.

Number of waning signages is increased and The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

installed in front of all dangerous animal enclosures alongwith dos and don'ts in the zoo.

iv.

On 19.12.2014 all the zoo staff attended a one day workshop on National Disaster Management Plan at National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi. In this workshop the zoo staff got valuable information about the safety of visitors, staff and zoo animals.

V.

A mock drill was conducted on 11.11.2014.

During this an escaped Jaguar male got captured quickly by the QRT.

vi.

A centralised Hooter System installed at range office (approximately central part of the zoo) for any emergency use. vii. Number of security guards increased during visiting hours of the zoo.

viii.

First Aid facility enhanced and provided at two more places in the zoo, earlier it was at three places. ix.

One tranquilization equipment kept in ready in Veterinary Hospital with zoo ambulance for use for tranquilization of animal on urgent necessity. x.

To increase awareness among zoo visitors more zoo volunteers got deployed in front of animal enclosures particularly during weekends when the number of visitors is more. Through these volunteers mass awareness programme is being conducted alongwith an animal keeper as a keeper's talk. xi.

Dos and don'ts got printed on the back of the zoo entry ticket and these tickets got started from 01.04.2015.

xii.

To enhance the functioning of QRT the team got reorganized on 09.09.2015."

3. Having regard to the above-mentioned steps taken by the respondents, the petitioner- Sh. Avadh Kaushik appearing in person states that the matter needs no further adjudication." 4.

Reply/affidavit along with certain office memorandums has been filed on behalf of the respondents, wherein it has been stated as under: - "I Ramesh Kumar Pandey aged about 50 years working as Director National Zoological Park New Delhi (NZP) with the respondents, The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

do hereby solemnly affirm, and declare as under: 1.

That the contempt petition is not tenable and deserve to be dismissed in view of the order of Hon'ble High Court dated 25.05.2016 in which the WP(C) No.6677 of 2014 was disposed of by the Hon'ble High Court in the light of steps taken by the respondents to meet out the emergent situation in the NZP. Since then the NZP has been implementing the steps explained in the writ petition and the Quick Response Team (QRT) has been doing the needful regularly.

2.

That moreover, it is submitted that the NZP is following all the guidelines for facilitating effective scientific management of zoos in India in consonance with the Rule 10 of Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2009 (Amendment) Rules, 2013 of the Central Zoo Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the letter and spirit.

3.

That it is submitted that the NZP reconstituted a "Quick Response Team" vide letter No.III-3/2019- NZP/3372-79 dated 30.01.2019 to deal with any emergency situation in the zoo and to enhance the security of the visitors in the NZP. Copy of letter No.III-3/2019-NZP/3372- 79 dated 30.01.2019 is annexed as Annexure-R-1.

4.

That besides this NZP has issued protocol instructions vide letter No.III-3/2019-NZP/3380-89 dated 30.01.2019 on the main objective of the emergency protocol to ensure the safety of visitors as well as animals kept in captivity. Copy of letter No.III-3/2019NZP/3380-89 dated 30.01.2019 is annexed as Annexure-R-2.

5. That a mock drill was carried out at NZP on 31.01.2019 under the supervision of Director, National Zoological Park where the theme of the drill was the escape of Royal Bengal Tiger at beat no.5. The rescue team successfully conducted the mock Drill and the area declared safe for the visitors within a time of 05 minutes. Copy of letter dated 31.01.2019 is annexed as Annexure-R-3.

6. That to deal/stop the incident like Rehan Khan who jumped into the lion enclosure, the protocol for security of animals as well as visitors is restructured vide OM No.

DIGFRT/MiscNZP/2019/2634-37 dated 30.10.2019. Copy of OM No. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

DIGFRT/Misc-NZP/2019/2634-37 dated 30.10.2019 is annexed as Annexure-R-4.

7.

That the National Zoological Park reconstituted the "Quick Response Team' vide OM No.111-3/2019-NZP-1047- 56 dated 06.08.2020 empowered with more necessary equipments/gadgets and necessary items to respond in time to successfully manage exigencies and necessary directions were given to all concerned section supervisors. Copy of OM No.III-3/2019-NZP-1047-56 dated 06.08.2020 is annexed as Annexure-R-5.

8.

That on 16.09.2020, a meeting has been organized by QRT to discuss the preparedness of QRT to deal with any emergency and eventualities in the NZP under the team leadership of Veterinary, Officer, NZP. In the meeting after getting all the inputs from the team members the list of equipments and accessories which could be required to procure, have also been made. Copy of minutes of QRT dated 16.09.2020 is annexed as Annexure-R-6. 9.

That the QRT which is equipped with all accessories and gadgets to help to meet emergency situation. Further the QRT meeting is held on 28.11.2020 wherein, it was decided to convene the QRT meeting regularly on each first Saturday of every month for further progress and to find. out new ways to meet emergency situation and also to carry out mock drill in future. Copy of minutes of the QRT dated 02.12.2020 are annexed as Annexure-R-7. Therefore QRT Meetings are convened on regular basis and so far three meetings have been convened since reconstitution of QRT. In view of the above, it is clear that the authority in NZP is doing needful to meet the emergency situation and QRT is functional and taking necessary steps as per the decisions taken in the above meeting and hence, it is most respectfully prayed that the Hon'ble Court may be pleased to dismiss the present CP and the notices as issued to the alleged contemnors may kindly be discharged."

5.

In view of the above, petitioner who appears in-person through video conferencing does not wish to press this petition any further. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

6.

Accordingly, the present petition is disposed of as not pressed. 7.

Pending application(s), if any, also stand disposed of. 8.

Needless to state that the respondents (National Zoological Park & Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change) shall abide by their Office Memorandums.

AMIT SHARMA, J FEBRUARY 19, 2026/kr The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.