Minister jailed for failing to protect environment

DELHI - A serving government minister in India has been sentenced to a month in prison - for failing to protect the environment.

In an unprecedented move, Swarupsingh Naik is to be jailed not for a crime committed in his private life, but for his conduct as a minister, after he secretly allowed six timber yards to operate close to a nature reserve in defiance of court orders.

Mr Naik is currently Transport Minister in the Maharashtra state government, but at the time of the offence, he was Environment Minister.

India's Supreme Court found him guilty of contempt of court after he personally intervened to allow the timber yards to remain open in spite of a court order for their closure.

The case is being seen as a victory for conservation efforts in India, whose forests and nature reserves have been ravaged by illegal logging.

It is also a sign of the Supreme Court's growing determination to enforce the rule of law.

In the past it has been common for businesses to bribe officials to turn a blind eye to infringements of the law.

A senior civil servant in the department, Ashok Khot, has also been sentenced to a month's imprisonment for his part in allowing the timber yards to remain open.

The case is a major embarrassment for the government of Maharashtra, one of the most powerful states in India, which includes the economic capital Bombay.

- INDEPENDENT