Details of the blackbuck poaching case involving actor Salman Khan have been uploaded on the website of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).
The WCCB, a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, contains a list of convicts in wildlife cases. The order of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jodhpur, along with Mr. Khan’s photograph and address, have been uploaded at serial number 39 on the website. “Convicted on 05-04-2018 for contravention of section 9/51, 2(16) of WL(P) Act 1972 and awarded 5 years SI and a fine of Rs. 10,000,” the website says.
Tilotamma Verma, Additional Director of the WCCB said that the actor’s name was included in the list a day after the conviction was pronounced by the court.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We have the practice of uploading the details of convicts. The bureau writes to State government seeking details of convictions in wildlife cases. In this particular case, we uploaded the details of the conviction after going through the order as the case was in the public domain,” Ms. Verma said.
“The basic motto of putting the names of convicts on our website is to spread awareness about wildlife crimes in India. Once there is acquittal or reversal of conviction, we take the names off our convicts’ list,” she said.
Asked why there were only 39 names on the website, officials of the WCCB said there were perhaps more convictions in wildlife crimes but they had not been brought to the notice of the bureau.
ADVERTISEMENT
The WCCB maintains the data of accused and suspects, which are shared with Divisional Forest Officers and senior police officers of each State.
The first few entries on the page relates to an order of August 2013 where six persons, including a woman, were convicted of attempting to hunt tigers at a reserve forest in Karnataka. While most of those listed on the website have been convicted of hunting or attempting to hunt tigers, there are also cases of illegal trade in wildlife products, including Pangolin scales.