New Delhi, Sept. 15 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a challenge by Wildlife SOS co-founder and CEO Kartick Satyanarayan against the Madhya Pradesh High Court's decision to withdraw interim protection from arrest granted to him in an alleged leopard poaching case.

Senior advocate Siddhartha Dave mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, seeking protection for Satyanarayan as he joins the investigation.

Dave submitted that Wildlife SOS was an NGO whose anti-poaching efforts had helped lead to the recovery of the leopard skins, but that its Chief had subsequently been implicated by the State.

He said Satyanarayan was willing to cooperate with the auth...