REPORTABLE     

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA   

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION   

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. _2024____OF 2010 [Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.5599 of 2009]

Sansar Chand                                             ..     Appellant              -versus-   State of Rajasthan                                      ..        Respondent                                                                                        

J U D G M E N T

 Markandey Katju, J.     1.      Leave granted.                            2.      Shera was the symbol of the recent Commonwealth Games,  

but ironically Shera has been almost exterminated in our country.  

The Sher Khan of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’, which once  

abounded in India, is rarely to be seen today.

3. This case reveals how avaricious and rapacious persons have  

by organized crime destroyed large parts of the wild life of India  

and brought many animals e.g. tigers, leopards, bison, etc. almost  

to  the  brink  of  extinction,  thereby  seriously  jeopardizing  and  

destroying  the  ecological  chain  and  ecological  balance  in  our  

environment.   

 4.      The appellant herein has been convicted under the Wildlife  

(Protection) Act, 1972 by all the three courts below and now he is  

in appeal before us.

 5.      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  

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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.    

6.      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.

 7.      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”.  

8.      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.

 9.      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.   

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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.      

  10.     Before dealing with the facts of this case, we may consider  

why preservation of wild life is important for human society.  

 11.    Preservation  of  wild  life  is  important  for  maintaining  the  

ecological  balance  in  the  environment  and  sustaining  the  

ecological chain.  It must be understood that there is inter-linking  

in nature.  To give an example, snakes eat frogs, frogs eat insects  

and  insects  eat  other  insects  and  vegetation.  If  we  kill  all  the  

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snakes, the result will be that number of frogs will increase and  

this will result in the frogs eating more of the insects and when  

more insects are eaten, then the insects which are the prey of other  

insects will increase in number to a disproportionate extent, or the  

vegetation  will  increase  to  a  disproportionate  extent.  This  will  

upset the delicate ecological balance in nature.  If we kill the frogs  

the insects will  increase and this will  require more insecticides.   

Use  of  much  insecticide  may  create  health  problems.  To  give  

another example, destruction of dholes (wild dogs) in Bhutan was  

intended to protect livestock, but this led to greater number of wild  

boar  and  to  resultant  crop  devastation  causing  several  cases  of  

abandonment  by  humans  of  agricultural  fields.  Destruction  of  

carnivorous animals will result in increase of herbivorous animals,  

and this can result in serious loss of agricultural crops and other  

vegetation.       

 12.    It must be realized that our scientific understanding of nature,  

and in particular of the ecological chain and the linkages therein is  

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still very primitive, incomplete and fragmentary.    Hence, it is all  

the more important today that we preserve the ecological balance  

because disturbing it may cause serious repercussions of which we  

may have no idea today.  

 13.    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.

 14.    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  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  

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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.      

 15.    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  

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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.    

 16.    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  

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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.   

 17.      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.

 18.      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  

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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.   

19.    Sansar  Chand  the  appellant  herein  has  a  long  history  of  

involvement with wildlife crime.  A brief account of the same is  

given below:

 (i)      In a seizure dated 11.09.1974 having criminal case No.  

20/3 Sansar was held guilty by the Court of Shri H.P. Sharma  

ACMM,  Delhi  on  1.8.1981  and  sentenced  on  3.8.1981  to  

rigorous  imprisonment  for  one  year  and six  months.  This  

Court vide it’s judgment dated 13.5.1994 ordered the release  

of Sansar Chand on the ground that he was a juvenile on the  

date of the offence and his sentence be considered to have  

undergone.    

       (ii)    In another seizure dated 20.11.1974 he was held guilty  

and sentenced to pay a fine of Rs. 20,000/-.

(iii)   The  third  conviction  of  Sansar  Chand  was  by  the  

Special Railways Court vide it’s order dated 20.4.2004 which  

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was pleased to award Sansar Chand rigorous imprisonment  

for  5  years.  The  said  judgment  has  been  subsequently  

affirmed by the Sessions Court on 19.10.2006 and the High  

Court of Rajasthan vide it’s order dated 10.12.2008 against  

which Sansar Chand  has preferred this special leave petition.  

(iv)    In addition to the above there are other cases pending  

against  the  appellant  which  provide  details  of  his  pending  

cases in various Courts and which were admitted by him in  

his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and which are Ex. P-

46 and P-47.   These exhibits show the extent of involvement  

of Sansar Chand in wildlife crime.

(v)     In order to highlight the extent of the organized nature  

of  wildlife  crimes  being  committed  by  the  appellant,  it  is  

important to mention here that it is not just Sansar Chand, but  

other members of his family and associations who are also  

involved in the illegal trade in wildlife.   It is alleged that the  

appellant’s younger brother Narayan Chand is mentioned in  

FIR No. 82/2005, Kamla Market Police Station, New Delhi,  

involving the seizure of,  inter alia, 2 tiger skins, 38 leopard  

skins and 1 snow leopard skin and has been named as an  

accused in the complaint filed under Section 55 of the Wild  

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Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in this case.  Narayan Chand is  

also  an  accused  in  Court  Case  No.  1145/2009 being  tried  

before the Additional Chief Judicial Magaistrate, Haldwani,  

arising  from  Preliminary  Offence  Report  No.  

13/Fatehpur/2008-2009, involving the seizure of 1 tiger skin  

and  a  tiger  skeleton.  Sansar  Chand’s  wife  Rani  and  son  

Akash  are  accused  in  the  case  arising  from  FIR  No.  

362/2004,  Manak  Chowk  Police  Station,  Jaipur,  involving  

the seizure of leopard paws and claws.  CBI in the year 2005  

invoked  MCOCA  against  Sansar  Chand  and  his  family  

members and associates which case is pending trial in a Delhi  

Court.           

20.      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  

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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.

 21.      Thus, all the courts below have found the appellant guilty of  

the offences charged.

 22.      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.

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 23.    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.

 24.      In the courts below the prosecution filed a list of pending  

cases against Sansar Chand, in some of which he has been found  

guilty  and punished.  The appellant  has  been  prosecuted by the  

Wildlife Department in various courts as mentioned in the letter of  

the Deputy Inspector General  of Police,  CBI,  New Delhi  to the  

Inspector General of Police, Jaipur dated October 20, 2004.

 25.      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  

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also disclosed the name of the appellant vide Ex.P-6 on January 6,  

2003.

 26.    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.   

 27.    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  

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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.

 28.    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.

 29. 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.   

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30. 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.  

31.    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).  

 32.    The appellant, Sansar Chand has been doing this illegal trade  

for  more  than  30  years.   He  is  habitual  of  doing  this  illegal  

business of trade in skins and parts of panthers and tigers.  He has,  

as  far  back as in  1974,  committed  his  first  crime when he was  

barely  16  years  of  age  and  the  conviction  was  upheld  by  the  

Supreme Court  in Criminal Case No. 15 of 2001.  A large number  

of  cases  are  pending  against  him  in  Delhi,  Uttar  Pradesh  and  

Rajasthan.  Taking  all  these  materials  into  account  there  is  no  

doubt that the appellant is guilty of the offence charged.  

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 33.    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 vs.  The State of  Mysore – AIR 1971 SC 1871,  

Mulk Raj vs. The State of U.P. – AIR 1959 SC 902, Sivakumar  

vs.  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.      

 34.    The learned Magistrate and the Special Judge have discussed  

in  great  detail  the  prosecution  evidence,  oral  as  well  as  

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documentary and have found the appellant guilty.  The High Court  

has affirmed that verdict and we see no reason to take a different  

view.  The appeal, therefore, stands dismissed.         

 35. 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.

                                                          ……………..… …………….J.

                                                (MARKANDEY KATJU)   

                                               ……………………….…..….J.                                                 (T. S. THAKUR)

NEW DELHI; 20th OCTOBER, 2010   

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