Case Summary
| Citation | Sansar Chand v State of Rajasthan, 2010 (10) SCC 604 Markandey Katju, J |
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Full Case Details
- Before dealing with the facts of this case, we would like to comment upon the
background. India, at one time, had one of the richest and most varied fauna in the
world. However, over the last several decades there has been rapid decline of India’s
wild animals and birds which is a cause of grave concern. Some wild animals and
birds have already become extinct e.g. the cheetah and others are on the brink of
extinction. Areas which were once teeming with wild life have become devoid of it,
and many sanctuaries and parks are empty or almost empty of animals & birds. Thus,
the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan and the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya
Pradesh today have no tigers. - One of the main causes for this depredation of the wild life is organized poaching
which yields enormous profits by exports to China and other countries. - Article 48A of the Constitution states as follows:“48A. Protection and
improvement of environment and safeguarding of forest and wild life. — The State
shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests
and wild life of the country”. - Article 51A (g) of the Constitution states that it is the duty of every citizen of India
to protect and improve the natural environment including the wild life. - The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 was enacted for this constitutional purpose.
Chapter III of the said Act prohibits hunting of wild animals except in certain limited
circumstances. Chapter IV enables the State Government to declare any area as a
sanctuary or national park, and destruction or removal of animals from those areas is
prohibited except under very limited circumstances. Chapter V & VA prohibits trade
or commerce of wild animals, animal articles or trophies. Chapter VI makes violation
of the provisions of the Act a criminal offence. By the Wildlife Protection
(Amendment) Act, 2002 the punishment has been increased vide Section 51 as
amended, and the property derived from illegal hunting and trade is liable to forfeiture
vide Chapter VIA. - As already stated above, the wild life in India has already been considerably
destroyed. At one time there were hundreds of thousands of tigers, leopards and other
wild animals, but today there are only about 1400 tigers left, according to the Wildlife
Institute. - Until recently habitat loss was thought to be the largest threat to the future of
tigers, leopards etc. However, it has now been established that illegal trade and
commerce in skins and other body parts of tigers, leopards etc. has done even much
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greater decimation. Poaching of tigers for traditional Chinese medicine industry has
been going on in India for several decades. Tigers and leopards are poached for their
skins, bones and other constituent parts as these fetch high prices in countries such as
China, where they are valued as symbols of power (aphrodisiacs) and ingredients of
dubious traditional medicines. This illegal trade is organized and widespread and is in
the hands of ruthless sophisticated operators, some of whom have top level patronage.
The actual poachers are paid only a pittance, while huge profits are made by the
leaders of the organized gangs who have international connection in foreign countries.
Poaching of wild life is an organized international illegal activity which generates
massive amount of money for the criminals. - Interpol says that trade in illegal wild life products is worth about US$ 20 billion a
year, and India is now a major source market for this trade. Most of the demand for
wildlife products comes from outside the country. While at one time there were
hundreds of thousands of tigers in India, today according to the survey made by the
Wildlife Institute of India (an autonomous body under the Ministry of Environment
and Forests), there were only 1411 tigers left in India in 2008. There are no reliable
estimates of leopards as no proper census has been carried out, but the rough
estimates show that the leopard too is a critically endangered species. - There is virtually no market for the skins or bones of tigers and leopards within
India. The evidence available points out that tigers and leopards, poached in the
Indian wilderness, are then smuggled across the border to meet the demand for their
products in neighbouring countries such as China. When dealing with tiger and
leopard poachers and traders, it is therefore important to bear in mind that one is
dealing with trans-national organized crime. The accused in these cases represents a
link in a larger criminal network that stretches across borders. This network starts
with a poacher who in most cases is a poor tribal and a skilled hunter. Poachers kill
tigers and leopards so as to supply the orders placed by a trader in a larger city centre
such as Delhi. These traders are very wealthy and influential men. Once the goods
reach the trader, he then arranges for them to be smuggled across the border to his
counterpart in another country and so on till it reaches the end consumer. It is
impossible for such a network to sustain itself without large profits and intelligent
management. - Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, trading in tiger, leopard and other
animal skins and parts is a serious offence. Apart from that, India is a signatory to
both the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and
the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC). However,
despite these National and International laws many species of wildlife e.g. tigers,
leopards, bison etc. are under threat of extinction, mainly due to the poaching
organized by international criminal traders and destruction of the habitats.
277 - Sansar Chand, the appellant before us has a long history of such criminal
activities, starting with a 1974 arrest for 680 skins including tigers, leopards and
others. In the subsequent years the appellant and his gang has established a complex,
interlinking smuggling network to satisfy the demand for tiger and leopard parts and
skins outside India’s borders, particularly to China. It is alleged that the appellant and
his gang are accused in 57 wildlife cases between 1974 and 2005. - The present case is only one of the cases in which the appellant has been accused.
The facts of the case have been set out in detail in the judgment of the High Court and
hence we are not repeating the same here. Briefly stated, on January 5, 2003 the
police arrested one Balwan who was traveling in a train with a carton containing
leopard’s skin. During investigation, the said Balwan on January 7, 2003 made a
disclosure statement to the SHO, GRP Bhilwara that the two leopard skins were to be
handed over to Sansar Chand at Sadar Bazar, Delhi. The appellant was charge sheeted
and after trial he was convicted by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate
(Railways), Ajmer, Rajasthan by his judgment dated 29.4.2004. The appellant filed an
appeal which was dismissed by the Special Judge, SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities)
Cases, Ajmer vide his judgment dated 19.8.2006. Thereafter the appellant filed a
Revision Petition, which was dismissed by the Rajasthan High Court by the impugned
judgment dated 10.12.2008. Hence, this appeal. - Thus, all the courts below have found the appellant guilty of the offences charged.
- Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the prosecution case is solely
based on the extra judicial confession made by co-accused Balwan vide Ex.P-33. We
do not agree. Apart from the extra judicial confession of Balwan there is a lot of other
corroborative material on record which establishes the appellant’s guilt. - It must be mentioned that persons like the appellant are the head of a gang of
criminals who do illegal trade in wildlife. They themselves do not do poaching, but
they hire persons to do the actual work of poaching. Thus a person like the appellant
herein remains behind the scene, and for this reasons it is not always possible to get
direct evidence against him. - Ex.P-33 which contains the confession of the appellant, was written by PW-11
Arvind Kumar on the instructions given by the accused Balwan while in custody.
Prior to Ex.P-33, Balwan has also disclosed the name of the appellant vide Ex.P-6 on
January 6, 2003. - In our opinion, Ex.P-33 supported by the evidence of Arvind PW 11 and Ex.P-6
cannot be treated to be concocted documents which cannot be relied upon. As per the
disclosure statement of Balwan the other co-accused persons were also arrested and
articles used for killing and removing skins from the bodies of leopards were also
recovered.
278 - The accused Balwan was released on bail on 18.01.2003, and thereafter he sent
the written confession Exh.P-33 on 23.01.2003 during judicial custody at Central Jail,
Ajmer. In our opinion it cannot be held that the accused Balwan was under any
pressure of the police. The said letter Ex.P-33 dictated by Balwan to Arvind Kumar
was directly sent from the Central Jail, Ajmer to the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court,
Ajmer. We are of the opinion that the letter P-33 was not fabricated or procured by
pressure. The accused Balwan has clearly stated in Exh.P-33that he was paid Rs.
5000/- and Rs. 10000/- by the appellant. The appellant has several houses in Delhi,
purchased in his name and in the name of his wife. It appears that these houses were
purchased with the help of gains made out of his illegal activities stated above. - Pw-11 Arvind Kumar has stated in his deposition before the Court that he wrote
the letter Ex.P-33 at the instance of the accused Balwan. The thumb impression of the
accused Balwan is on that letter. - At the instance of the appellant one Bhua Gameti was questioned who stated that
the panther’s skin had been taken by various persons e.g. Khima, Nawa, Kheta Ram,
Mohan and Chuna, who were also arrested. At their pointing out the equipment used
for hunting the leopard and poaching it were seized. Panther’s nails were also
recovered from accused Bhura and the guns, cartridges, and knives for removing the
skins of panthers were recovered from the accused. - There is a large amount of oral and documentary evidence on record which has
been discussed in great detail by the learned Magistrate and the learned Special Judge
and hence we are not repeating the same here. Thus the appellant has rightly been
held guilty beyond reasonable doubt. - As already stated above, in such cases it is not easy to get direct evidence,
particularly against the leader of the gang (like the appellant herein). - There is no absolute rule that an extra judicial confession can never be the basis of
a conviction, although ordinarily an extra judicial confession should be corroborated
by some other material vide Thimma v. The State of Mysore – AIR 1971 SC 1871 ,
Mulk Raj v. The State of U.P. – AIR 1959 SC 902 , Sivakumar v. State by Inspector
of Police – AIR 206 SC 563 (para 41 & 42), Shiva Karam Payaswami Tewar vs. State
of Maharashtra – AIR 2009 SC 1692 , Mohd. Azad vs. State of West Bengal – AIR
2009 SC 1307 . In the present case, the extra judicial confession by Balwan has been
referred to in the judgments of the learned Magistrate and the Special Judge, and it
has been corroborated by the other material on record. We are satisfied that the
confession was voluntary and was not the result of inducement, threat or promise as
contemplated by Section 24 of the Evidence Act. - The learned Magistrate and the Special Judge have discussed in great detail the
prosecution evidence, oral as well as documentary and have found the appellant
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guilty. The High Court has affirmed that verdict and we see no reason to take a
different view. The appeal, therefore, stands dismissed. - Before we part with this case, we would like to request the Central and State
Governments and their agencies to make all efforts to preserve the wild life of the
country and take stringent actions against those who are violating the provisions of
the Wildlife (Protection) Act, as this is necessary for maintaining the ecological
balance in our country.
