The petitioner had sought a stay on the translocation of the deer from the park. (Express Photo)Delhi’s popular Deer Park in Hauz Khas may soon have no deer left if the Supreme Court accepts the recommendations of a panel it constituted last November over concerns of overcrowding, resource constraints, and managerial lapses.The top court is set to hear the matter on Tuesday after a petition was filed last year by NGO New Delhi Nature Society, represented by advocates Rukhsana Choudhury and Amita Singh. The petitioner had sought a stay on the translocation of the deer from the park.Constituted by the SC, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), in a report submitted to the top court on March 6, has red-flagged that DDA’s AN Jha Deer Park — popularly known as Deer Park — does not provide even the bare-minimum facilities to the population it houses. While the translocation of majority of its population seems imminent, the park, which lost its ‘mini zoo’ tag in 2023 due to non-compliance to guidelines, has to ensure that it is granted the tag again by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s (MoEFCC) Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to be able to retain even just 38 deer.Earlier this year, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), following a site inspection on January 23, conducted the first scientific assessment after 2022 for a population estimate, pegging the spotted deer breed in the park between 370 and 547.Subsequently, the WII — in its report submitted to the CEC — highlighted that the assessment “indicates a population nearly 10 times higher than the sustainable capacity of the enclosure,” where ideally 38 deer should be housed. This goes against the CZA guidelines on ‘Minimum Dimension of Enclosures for Housing Animals of Different Species in Zoos’, it said.“This substantial exceedance unequivocally demonstrates that the existing enclosure is severely overstocked, with significant implications for animal welfare, habitat degradation, disease transmission, and long-term population viability,” WII had reported to the CEC earlier this year.Even as the WII calculated that the present enclosure for deer in the park of 10.26 acres should ideally be housing 38 deer, CZA, on the other hand said that the space is “suitable for approximately 50-55 deer”. Both the bodies have, however, recommended translocation of the surplus population to tiger reserves in Rajasthan.The CEC, taking into account WII’s report, has recommended that the surplus population shall be translocated to the two tiger reserves in Rajasthan. “The aforesaid population of 38 spotted deer may continue to be maintained at AN Jha Deer Park only upon formal recognition and approval of the facility by the CZA, and strictly subject to full compliance with all conditions and prescriptions stipulated by the CZA.”Story continues below this adThe CZA, in June 2023, had cancelled the recognition of the Deer Park and approved the translocation of approximately 600 deer to wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves in Rajasthan and partly to the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, Delhi. The park “time and again failed to comply” with the conditions necessary to be maintained for a ‘mini-zoo’, the CZA had underlined at the time.In line with the directions, between September 2023 and March 2025, 261 deer were translocated from the park to Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve (100) and Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (161). The translocation was then halted owing to the SC’s order in November 2025.A CZA review visit, as recently as December 2025, which finds a mention in the CEC report, indicates dismal condition at the park, The design of the deer park “does not comply with CZA guidelines”; unhygienic conditions; “absence of basic infrastructure and equipment” which compromises scientific disease diagnosis; “absence of equipments” for surgeries; “grossly inadequate” staffing with only one veterinarian and one zoo-keeper — these were the red flags raised following the visit.Even as DDA on December 20, 2025, told the CEC that it had sufficient water availability with two water troughs within the enclosure in addition to an “artificially created water stream provided during the summer season”, CZA, in a visit to the site on December 15, 2025, had noted that of the two water points, “one was clean and full and another was undergoing repair.”Story continues below this adDDA has told the committee that “currently operating the zoo without a valid license” owing to “legal constraints imposed imposed by judicial stay order by Hon’ble Supreme Court on the translocation of deer and cancellation of recognition by CZA” is a challenge for the body and has flagged that this issue needs to be “addressed.”Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd