Pay half of fine to informer: court’s bid to spur animal protection

Source: The post is based on the article “Pay half of fine to informer: court’s bid to spur animal protection” published in The Hindu on 6th July 2023

What is the News?

A Sessions Court in Rajasthan has ordered the payment of half of the fine amount imposed on a convict in a chinkara killing case, to the informer as a prize for helping in the detection of crime against wildlife. 

The court said that this would make the society sensitive to wildlife protection.

What is the case about?

A person was arrested after police were tipped off by an informer that the former was seen on a camel cart with the carcass of a chinkara. 

The arrested person admitted that he hunted the chinkara with his licensed gun and had burnt its horns and some other parts of its body near the scene of the crime.

Following his conviction by the Magistrate’s court, he moved an appeal in the sessions court.

The court upheld his conviction and sentence and directed that 50% of the fine be paid to the informer as a prize. It would encourage the people to report the killing of endangered animals to the authorities.

What is Chinkara or Indian gazelle?

Source: Wikipedia

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Chinkara or Indian gazelle (Gazella bennettii) is a relatively small gazelle.

The range states of the species are India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan and possibly Afghanistan. 

The chinkara inhabits arid areas, including sand deserts, flat plains and hills, dry scrub and light forest. 

They can go for a long time without water, so they are adapted to live in very dry areas. 

It is mostly a solitary animal, but sometimes forms small groups of 2 – 4 individuals.

Most of the global population is found in the Thar Desert of western India.It is also the State animal of Rajasthan.