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The Supreme Court agreed to hear a PIL on Monday with regards to the massive forest fires in May which burnt wildlife in Uttarakhand. The PIL seeks that entire wildlife in the region be declared a living entity with corresponding rights and the government be directed to take steps to prevent wildfires. In April and May of this year,1493 incidents of forest fires have been reported and vast hectares of reserved forest area was adversely affected and Uttarakhand has lost 44,000 hectares of forest covers to fire.
An important case was cited in this instant case, Animal Welfare Board of India vs. A. Nagaraja & others. It was stated in this case that Article 21 of the Constitution, while safeguarding the rights of humans, protects life and the word "life" has been given an expanded definition, hence disturbance from the basic environment which includes all forms of life, including animals life, which are necessary for human life, fall within the meaning of Article 21 of the Constitution. Life is not merely survival or existence or instrumental value for human beings, but to lead a life with some intrinsic worth, honour or dignity and all the animals have honour and dignity. This PIL seeks to achieve that the animals including avian and aquatic, be conferred with the status of legal entity or legal person.The Uttarakhand High Court had in July, 2018 declared entire animal kingdom to be a legal entity with rights of a living person. Additionally, the PIL also seek directions to the government to frame policy to check forest fires.
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