The ‘Tiger State’, it appears, has failed to enforce the law in one of its vaunted tiger reserves.

Barely one in four cases of wildlife violations filed with the Nagarahole National Park — which has for the past 15 years been at the heart of a successful tiger conservation programme and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site — have seen results.

An RTI query, filed by the NGO Wildlife First in 2014-end, revealed that between 1992 and 2013, there were 704 cases of sandalwood poaching, forest encroachment, wildlife-related offences, and arson among others. Shockingly, just 120 cases — or a mere 17 per cent — have reached completion or been charge-sheeted, or are in the trial stage.

“This is the sorry state of affairs in one of the State’s most important national parks. The trend is surely the same in other protected areas. It is a worrying fact that most cases have not even reached the courts,” said Praveen Bhargav of Wildlife First.

He said unsolved cases point to a failure of the Forest Department to discharge its primary duty, that is, law enforcement and deterrence.

The query further reveals that a meeting of forest officials from the national park in September 2013 had resolved to solve these cases within 15 days.

However, no progress has been recorded since then.

In a letter to the Chief Wildlife Warden, activists have demanded that a crime review of all national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves in the State should be conducted, while a Special Investigation Team (SIT) should be formed to ensure investigations are completed in a time-bound manner.

While admitting that there was a need for a better system of prosecution and detection, R. Gokul, director of the park, said: “Many of these cases pertain to tribals, who have been booked for minor works in their villages. Similarly, if we find a tree missing, it is our duty to file a case. Detection, however, is difficult.” He added that pendency over the past three years has reduced.

Vinay Luthra, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), said: “Many sandalwood smuggling cases go undetected, while, encroachment cases usually take a long time to resolve.”