Sections 27 to 34: What May and May Not Be Done Inside

In one line

Who may come in, what a permit allows, and eight prohibitions that operate on everybody once they are inside.

In exam wording: section 27 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 provides that no person other than a public servant on duty, a person permitted by the Chief Wild Life Warden or the authorised officer to reside within the limits of the sanctuary, a person who has any right over immovable property within those limits, a person passing through along a public highway, and the dependants of any of the first three, shall enter or reside in a sanctuary except under and in accordance with the conditions of a permit granted under section 28; that every person residing in a sanctuary is bound to prevent the commission of an offence, to help in discovering and arresting an offender, to report the death of any wild animal and safeguard its remains, to extinguish and prevent the spread of fire, and to assist a forest officer, Chief Wild Life Warden, Wild Life Warden or police officer; that no person shall, with intent to cause damage to a boundary mark or to cause wrongful gain as defined in the Indian Penal Code 1860, alter, destroy, move or deface such boundary mark; and that no person shall tease or molest any wild animal or litter the grounds of a sanctuary.

Section 27: the five who may enter without a permit

(a) a public servant on duty;

(b) a person permitted by the Chief Wild Life Warden or the authorised officer to reside within the limits of the sanctuary;

(c) a person who has any right over immovable property within the limits;

(d) a person passing through the sanctuary along a public highway;

(e) the dependants of a person in clause (a), (b) or (c).

Clause (c) is the one that matters. A person whose right has been allowed to continue under section 24(2)(c), or whose right has not yet been settled, enters as of right.

Clause (d) is narrow. Passing through along a public highway. It does not permit stopping, leaving the road, or entering by any other route.

Everybody else needs a permit under section 28.

Section 27(2): the duties of a resident

Every person, so long as he resides in the sanctuary, is bound:

(a) to prevent the commission in the sanctuary of an offence against the Act;

(b) where there is reason to believe such an offence has been committed, to help in discovering and arresting the offender;

(c) to report the death of any wild animal and to safeguard its remains until the Chief Wild Life Warden or the authorised officer takes charge;

(d) to extinguish any fire in the sanctuary of which he has knowledge or information, and to prevent from spreading, by any lawful means in his power, any fire within the vicinity of which he has knowledge or information;