India, Jan. 24 -- The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday took suo motu cognisance of an alarming rise in tiger deaths in Maharashtra and directed that a public interest litigation (PIL) be registered to examine systemic lapses in wildlife protection and investigations.

The court acted after a news report highlighted the deaths of four tigers in Vidarbha between December 31, 2025 and January 11 this year. It was pointed out that as many as 11 tigers died in the first 22 days of 2025 alone, and that Maharashtra ranked second nationally in tiger fatalities after Madhya Pradesh last year.

The bench observed that several deaths were reported under disturbing circumstances, including electrocution due to illegally erected live ...