Deterrent punishment must in wildlife crimes to send message to society: HC

Nagpur: Over 22 years after two poachers were nabbed with five tiger skulls, skin and 23kg bones, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court refused to grant any leniency to them, holding that “misplaced sympathy while awarding the sentence can send a wrong message to society”.
Upholding six years of rigorous jail awarded by the sessions court under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, justice Govinda Sanap observed that the sentence must be an example by way of deterrence for others.
“Unless and until a strict view is taken and deterrent punishment commensurate with seriousness of the offence is imposed, a message of fear of psychosis could not reach the society. The deterrent punishment sends a message to the society at large as well as to the accused, who are found guilty in actual commission of crime, about the consequences after commission of such crime,” he said.
“In this case, the quantity of the wild animal products recovered indicates that it involved the killing of more than one animal. The tiger, which is the national animal, was on the verge of extinction once upon a time, was killed,” the judge added.
According to CBI counsel Mugdha Chandurkar, the agency’s special investigation unit received a tip off about a vehicle carrying poached material on March 21, 2001, near MHKS petrol pump. It was driven by petitioners Makbool Ahmed and Rajesh Gujar from Kamptee.
The raiding party found one tiger skin on the front seat and antler horns, 10 claws, and 3 teeth on the rear seat. In the dicky, they found gunny bags containing 23kg tiger bones, 5 tiger skulls weighing about 2.4kg, and antler horns weighing 1.9kg.
Justice Sanap ordered the registry to send a judgment copy to the magistrate for execution of sentence awarded by him, as both accused were granted bail after their conviction in 2013.