Delhi HC issues notice on plea of PEMA seeking direction for upgrading forensic testing infrastructure for Pashmina, Shahtoosh

New Delhi [India], October 11 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on a plea moved by Pashmina Exporters and Manufacturing Association (PEMA) seeking a direction to improve, augment and enhance existing forensic testing of Shahtoosh (Tibetan Antelope) shawls.
The division bench headed by Chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the authorities on the petition filed by three societies including PEMA, Kashmir Pashmina Organization and Tahafuz.
The bench has listed the matter in November for further hearing. The petition moved through advocate Tanvir Ahmed Mir has impleading the Ministry of Environment, forest and climate change, the Ministry of Textiles, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Customs, the Zoological Survey of India, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Bureau of India Standard (BIS), The Export promotion council for handicrafts as respondents.
The petitioners have prayed for directions to the Respondents to improve, augment and enhance existing forensic testing infrastructure available to all concerned Forensic Science Laboratories engaged in wildlife forensics, more specifically, those engaged in the analysis of suspected 'Shahtoosh' (Tibetan Antelope) shawls, to incorporate modern 'Scanning Electron Microscopic' technology and DNA testing procedures.
It is additionally prayed that the Respondents be directed to enforce and incorporate the Quantitative / Qualitative identification metrics already mandated on January 19, 2022, to titled 'Identification, Labelling and Marking of Pashmina Products' issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) into all forensic reports issued by forensic science laboratories engaged in wildlife forensics, more specifically, those engaged in the analysis of suspected 'Shahtoosh' (Tibetan Antelope).
The Petitioners herein are registered societies comprising exporters, manufacturers, traders, and artisans of Pashmina shawls carrying out their trade in India.
"The petitioners stand aggrieved of customs and criminal prosecutions initiated against innocent stakeholders in the Pashmina trade on the premise that their consignments for export carry articles 'suspected to be shahtoosh guard hair', that adversely impact the industry at large. The sole basis of these prosecutions emanates from forensic reports that are issued by the forensic science laboratories using technologically obsolete methods 'Light Microscopy', that erroneously conclude various exporters' consignments to be 'positive for Shahtoosh' guard hair'," the petition stated.
It is also said that consequent to such forensic reports, the accused stakeholders are subjected to onerous customs proceedings, huge monetary losses, huge delays in the release of seized shipments leading to loss of business, loss of reputation, mental harassment, and agony, as well as the initiation of multiple criminal proceedings and potential incarceration.
The petitioners said that currently, there are only two empanelled forensic science laboratories by the State, namely the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, as well as the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, both of which employ Light Microscopy upon being directed to examine various consignments suspected to be 'shahtoosh'.
It is submitted that the method of morphological testing through light microscopy, used by Indian wildlife forensics, is recognized both domestically and globally to be outdated, technologically obsolete and highly prone to false-positive results.
The petition said that the physical characteristics of Pashmina and Shahtoosh fibres are similar in terms of physical properties and tangibility, which make it nearly impossible to distinguish on the basis of morphological characteristics, most particularly while using the standard Light Microscopy method.
The petitioners said that it is somewhat questionable that despite the near-unanimous opinion that morphological testing has run its course, both domestically and globally, it continues to be used in wildlife forensic testing for the purposes of initiating customs as well as criminal prosecutions.
It is also a matter of record that superior forensic testing methods exist. One such technology is DNA Polymerase Chain Reaction 'PCR' [DNA analysis], validated by the latest research and usage of such technology wherein trace materials like the Hair or Guard Hairs are used for identification of Tibetan Antelope from the woven pashmina shawls. This is because as per the demonstrated scientific findings any such Hair or Guard Hairs of the Tibetan Antelope would have sufficient DNA present to allow its DNA typing with a nearly accurate plausibility to identify such CITES-protected species, the petition stated.