JUDGMENT :

Sanjeev Kumar, J.

These two writ petitions (OWP No.754/2012 & OWP No. 453/2006) are essentially by the Fur Traders; one filed by 19 Fur Traders together and, second by the Association known by the name of All Kashmir Fur Traders and Manufacturers Association, Residency Road, Srinagar. The petitioners seek their rehabilitation in the wake of complete ban imposed on Fur trade in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir due to enactment of J&K Wild Life Protection Act, 1978 [‘Act of 1978’]. The claim of the petitioners for rehabilitation is, inter alia, based on the recommendations of the Committee dated 21.04.1998 constituted by the respondents vide Government Order No.407-FST of 1997 dated 09.09.1997.

2. For better appreciation of the claim of the petitioners and to arrive at a just decision of the controversy raised in these petitions, it is necessary to take note of the factual antecedents, leading to filing of these petitions:

The trade in wild life and its derivatives has been a big business worldwide and India has been traditionally an important source of wild life species relevant to the trade. The illegal trade has consumed a number of rare and endangered species thr