NEW DELHI: Notorious poacher Sansar Chand, better known as 'Veerappan of north India', was on Wednesday sentenced to six years in jail — maximum punishment prescribed under the Wildlife Protection Act — by a trial court in a case relating to seizure of a leopard skin 15 years ago.

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Digvinay Singh, who held Chand guilty of possessing a leopard skin under Section 51 read with Section 49 (punishment for dealing in skins and materials of endangered species) of the Wildlife Protection Act, also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.

This is the fourth conviction for Chand. Presently lodged in a Jaipur jail in connection with another offence, Chand will now have to spend less than a year in jail to complete his sentence. In its 24-page judgment, the court took a stern view of the increasing number of cases of wildlife poaching.

''Despite various steps taken by the governments across the globe, the offences relating to wildlife are refusing to come down... such repeated offenders need to be dealt with iron hands, more particularly when there has been three previous convictions and involvement in other similar offences,'' ACMM Singh said.

While the counsel for the accused sought a lenient view saying that the ''pecuniary'' value of the skin was ''not more than Rs 50'' and Chand was lodged in jail since 2005, the court trashed the plea, saying: ''The value of skin is not to be taken into consideration by the court at the time of sentence. Whether the skin was of high value or of low value is immaterial. Unless dealing in those skins is stopped completely, hunting is not going to come down''.

''The punishment to the convict should not only be commensurate with the offence committed by him, but it should also act as a deterrent, not only to this convict but to others involved in similar offences,'' ACMM Singh said.

The case against Sansar Chand was also pursued by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), through counsel Saurabh Sharma. Sharma said that this conviction will only strengthen the prosecution case against Chand under the charges of MCOCA.

As per the case, Chand was arrested after Delhi Police, acting on a tip-off, seized a skin of endangered leopard from his possession. During the trial, the prosecution's case hit a roadblock after one of the key public witnesses turned hostile. During his examination, witness Om Prakash gave contradictory statements about the case.

Even as the defence claimed that Chand was falsely implicated by the police after the public witness Prakash denied his role, the court trashed the claim and said, '' In all likelihood, this witness appears to have been won over by the accused, during pendency of trial of this case, from 1995 till June 2010, when this witness was examined in court.''

smriti.singh@timesgroup.com