Soon, a bill seeking penalty for wildlife crimes

A bill seeking to provide stringent penalty for wildlife crimes like in cases of money laundering and foreign exchange violation, would be introduced in the Budget Session of Parliament, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said today.

Stressing on the need to make the law a deterrent for wildlife offenders, he said, "The amendments are being circulated. One of the main provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill is to steeply increase the fine, as the present penalty is absurd".

"The time has come to send a strong signal that those who break the Wildlife Protection Act should be treated as those who violate the Foreign Exchange Act or Money Laundering Act as suggested by senior counsel Harish Salve," he said at a workshop on media and wildlife conservation here.

On the occasion, he also released a "green book" giving details of wildlife conservationists. The book has been compiled by Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India. Ramesh said that the second initiative in the amendment is to improve or increase space available to researchers in wildlife conservationists to carry out their scientific work.

"We need not look at them as an enemy of wildlife conservation and management but as scientists contributing to the welfare of the wildlife," the minister said while stressing the need to make the field as an attractive option for entrants at the management level.

Though he did not give details of the proposed amendments in the Act, sources told PTI that a hefty fine of Rs one crore has been proposed and irrespective of the nature of the offence, the cases will be referred to the session judges for speedy trial.