Seven convicted for selling lizards, birds

India: The Hingna court on Monday convicted seven accused who were caught selling monitor lizards and some birds at a local market in 2005.

The Judicial Magistrate first class ( JMFC) PP Deshmukh has sentenced all the accused for three years imprisonment. Apart from this, the two main accused have been imposed with a fine of 30,000 each while the remaining five accused have been fined with 15,000 each.

Government pleader Vandana Thote said that the court relied on the testimony of forest officials, district honorary wildlife warden Kundan Hate and other witnesses. "The accused were caught in a local market illegally selling live monitor lizards, green pigeons, quail, partridges and other birds about ten years back. After getting a tip-off, the forest department had raided the market and caught hold of the seven accused and also seized the animals. The department had later released the seized animals into the wild after completing all the formalities," she said.

She added that the accused have been booked under sections 9, 39, 44, 49 (B) and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and sections 41, 42 of the Indian Forest Act 1927. The investigating officer of the case was the then range forest officer Deepak Nandanwar.

(Source: The Times of India)