Man jailed for keeping 49 Shahtoosh shawls without permit

A man accused of keeping 49 Shahtoosh shawls without a valid permit has been jailed for one year by a Delhi court.
Additional Sessions Judge Narinder Kumar upheld the June 2014 order of a magisterial court which had awarded the jail term to 42-year-old Hilal Ahmad Wani for keeping 49 Shahtoosh shawls made of Tibetan Antelope, an endangered animal.
The judge, however, reduced the fine imposed on him by the magisterial court from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5,000 and dismissed his plea seeking release on probation.
"From the material available on record and the quantity of shawls recovered from Wani, it can safely be said that he kept the same in his possession as a dealer to carry on business.

"...This court does not find any ground for his release on probation or for leniency on the point of sentence.However, the amount of fine is reduced to Rs 5,000," the judge said, while adding that it was the minimum punishment for his offence under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The sessions court was hearing an appeal filed by Wani, a resident of Lajpat Nagar here, against the June 6, 2014 order of an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) which had held him guilty for the offence of dealing in animal articles derived from Scheduled animals under various provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Wani, in his appeal, did not challenge his conviction, but sought release on probation on the ground that he was not a previous convict.

The prosecution had told the court that the police got a tip-off that Wani used to indulge in an unlawful trade of Shahtoosh shawls after which a raid was conducted at his residence here in March, 2000 and he was found possessing 49 Shahtoosh shawls.
After seeing the police party, Wani fled from his house, and his cousins, who were present there, failed to produce any licence and admitted that the shawls belonged to Wani. He was arrested four days later.

Wani had claimed that he had nothing to do with the shawls and that he had been falsely implicated.
While convicting him, the magisterial court had relied on the testimonies of prosecution witnesses and Wani's cousins.