Bishnoi community may go in appeal against co-accused

JODHPUR: While it was a dark day for the Bollywood fraternity and the fans of actor Salman Khan, for the Bishnoi community, known for protecting environment and wildlife, the long and agonizing legal battle in the black buck poaching case finally ended in triumph on Thursday.
The five-year sentence given by the Jodhpur trial court to the actor under the Wildlife Protection Act for poaching two black bucks in Kankani village of Jodhpur on 1-2 October, 1998, was welcomed with loud cheer by community members.

Members of the Bishnoi Tiger Force and Bishnoi Vanyajeev Evam Paryavaran Sansthan, who were present on the court premises, shouted slogans against the actor and expressed happiness over the judgment.

“Though the sentence should have been bigger as he killed two black bucks, we are satisfied that the court found him guilty and handed him a fitting sentence,” said the Rampal Bhawad, state president of Bishnoi Tiger Force.

He, however, expressed his disappointment with the acquittal of the co-accused, actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Tabu, in the case.

“We will first go through the order and take a legal opinion on it. We will then put pressure and appeal against the acquittal of the co-accused,” he said, adding that they were party to the crime and should not be let-off.

Ram Niwas Budhnagar, secretary of the Bishnoi Vanya Jeev Evam Paryavaran Sansthan, said that the order has come as a huge boost for those who are committed to the protection of wildlife and environment.

“By sentencing a celebrity, the court has given the message that nobody is above law. It has met our expectations. A person who killed innocent animals for pleasure has not been spared by the law,” he said.

The community feels that the judgment would discourage poachers and bring down such incidents.

They had pressurized the state to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the previous acquittal of Khan in the two poaching cases by the high court. The appeal is now pending before the court.