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Karnataka Forest Officials Granted Anticipatory Bail in Poacher Killing Case
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In Short: A Karnataka court granted anticipatory bail to three forest department personnel accused of killing suspected poachers in an alleged encounter, pending a magisterial inquiry.
A Karnataka court granted anticipatory bail on Tuesday to three forest department personnel accused of killing three suspected poachers in an alleged encounter in the Cauvery Reserve Forest near Hanur, ruling that they need not face custodial interrogation while a magisterial inquiry into the incident remains pending.
The judge also pointed to legal protections available to forest officers, including under section 114 of the Karnataka Forest Act, which shields officers acting in good faith from prosecution.
The victims’ family members claim they had ventured into the forest looking for lost cattle.
The 1991 order permits forest personnel to use firearms to protect forest property and their own lives, using minimum necessary force, but bars the police from arresting or proceeding against officers involved in a shooting until the magisterial inquiry’s findings are known.
The findings of the CID inquiry were presented in the Karnataka High Court on Monday by the public prosecutor during the hearing of an anticipatory bail plea filed by the suspended KPSC chairman.
Forest department officials have registered a case against the fourth man, stating that they have recovered two muzzle-loading guns along with 38 spent cartridges, contending that the group had entered the protected forest armed and had fired on the officials first, who then returned fire in self-defence.
What's still developing
- “The place of incident is in the middle of the forest covered by bushes, stones, and rocks. The time of the incident was 4 am. When we analyse the situation, it may not be possible for the forest officials to aim towards the deceased, so that the bullets hit below the waist, as the place was covered with bushes, stones and rock, and it was dark at that time,” he said.
- The court noted that a magisterial inquiry—mandatory under a 1991 government order whenever forest personnel discharge firearms—was still underway, with the case having since been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police.
- Stating that section 31 of the Wildlife Protection Act bars anyone from entering a sanctuary with a weapon without prior written permission, the judge asked why the men were in the reserve forest with arms in the first place.
- The suspended chairman of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC), Sahukar Shivashankarappa, who is being investigated for his alleged role in a scam in the recruitment of 400 veterinary officers, and his son were in frequent contact through encrypted internet calls with a middleman arrested for facilitating leaks of the exam paper, a CID inquiry has found.