Indrajit Mahanty, CJ,J. - (1.) The petitioner, namely one Vivek Swami claiming to be an animal and bird lover, has filed the present writ petition styled as a Public Interest Litigation with the following prayers:- "(a) To issue an appropriate writ, order or direction, to declare Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 as ultra vires on the vice of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India for being manifestly arbitrary or to read down, clarify or expound the scope of the said impugned Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962, to save it from unconstitutionality; (b) To issue a writ of mandamus or in the nature of mandamus to the Respondent No.2 to issue suitable Circular/Instructions to enable the citizens in domestic possession of exotic species to make declaration under the voluntary disclosure scheme without any fear of actions under the customs Act, 1962; (c) To issue a writ of prohibition, or any other writ, order or direction, prohibiting the officers of the Respondent No.2 and 3 from summoning the petitioner under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 for seeking any information relating to the acquisition of the exotic species in possession of the petitioner in respect of which the petitioner is contemplating filing of a declaration under the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme issued by the Central Government vide the Advisory (at Annexure-2); (d) To issue a writ of prohibition, or any other writ, order or direction, prohibiting the officers of the Respondents from taking any action of summoning the petitioner in connection with inquiry or seizure/confiscation of exotic species in domestic possession, under any law, to enable the petitioner to avail an opportunity to make its declaration under the prescribed format under the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme introduced by the Central Government; (e) At the interim/ad-interim stage, pending final disposal of the instant writ petition, the Respondents may please be restrained from initiating any proceeding under the provisions of Customs Act, 1962 or any other law, either for summoning the petitioner or for seizure of the exotic species lying with the petitioner, (f) Pass such further Order(s) as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case."
(2.) It appears from the pleadings that the Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has issued an Advisory on 11.06.2020 (Annexure-1) under the heading "Government issues advisory to streamline the process for import and possession of exotic live species in India" and thereafter in furtherance thereof, a Voluntary Disclosure Scheme was issued by the Wildlife Division, Government of India under Annexure-2. The Voluntary Disclosure Scheme is apparently issued for the purpose of collecting stock information for persons who have in their possession "exotic live species" i.e. exotic live animals and birds within India through such voluntary disclosure and limited such disclosure upto the period till December, 2020. Such scheme was evolved by the Government of India since it did not possess necessary information of such stock of exotic species either by the State or the Union.
(3.) On perusal of the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme, it appears that options have been provided to persons to avail the benefit of the scheme within the stipulated time limit of six months and thereafter to maintain statutory records of addition or deletion in any declared stock of "exotic live species". The clear object behind the collection of such data appears to be to enable the Government to have necessary information/data, which would assist the Government to protect the wild fauna as well as protecting public interest.;