Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday granted the state government an additional two weeks to submit the high-level inquiry panel’s report on the operations of the railways and the forest department, hold responsible officials accountable, and determine the cause of death of three lions on the railway tracks near Gir sanctuary in January.

The bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal was hearing the suo motu PIL concerning the unnatural deaths of Asiatic lions in and around the Gir sanctuary.

Additional Advocate General Manisha Lav Kumar informed the division bench that a committee had been established and had already conducted a few meetings. This committee includes senior officers from the state forest department. She requested more time to finalize the inquiry report, and the court has scheduled the next hearing for July 12.

Earlier, the court had expressed anger over the forest department’s and railways’ inaction following the deaths of three lions on the tracks. The judges were dissatisfied with the investigation into the lions’ deaths in two separate incidents and questioned why the department heads had not requested an inquiry report on the incidents. DeshGujarat