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Delhi High Court: 12 years ago, a case was registered against the lab in-charge of a school in Delhi under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. The court canceled this saying that he was involved in school management.
Delhi High Court : Delhi High Court closed a case on charges of violating the Wildlife (Protection) Act. This case was going on against a person who was in charge of a school management. In the year 2013, a raid was conducted in a school and during this, 7 mongoose hair brushes were recovered from its lab. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna was hearing the case against the accused Deepesh Gupta in the High Court. Deepesh Gupta was accused of keeping banned wildlife items (brushes) for educational purposes in Bal Bhawan Senior Secondary School, Laxmi Nagar.
The brush was bought when the law was not in place
Petitioner’s lawyer Sumeet Verma said that the complaint was filed against the alleged in-charge of the school and not against the school and the society and that is why it was a blatant violation of the essential provisions of the Wildlife Act. On December 1, the court took note of Sumeet Verma’s arguments that mongoose brushes were purchased at a time when this carnivorous animal was not declared a banned species under the Wildlife Act in September 2002. However, the ruling stated that even if the brushes were purchased before the animal or its accessories were captured, that was not a violation of the law. But the ban under the School Wildlife Act failed to explain things. The court said that the complaint deserves to be heard in its entirety as there is prima facie evidence of the offense under the provisions of the Act.
High Court canceled FIR and complaint
Keeping in mind the allegations against Deepesh Gupta, the High Court said that there is nothing to show that the petitioner was an employee of the school at the time of the alleged crime in 2002 or even thereafter. He was in charge of the management, especially the biology laboratory. The court said that in the absence of any statement or document in support of the aforesaid matters, the petitioner cannot be held responsible for the alleged negligence on the part of the school. The court also said that it was not disclosed in the complaint that Gupta was responsible for the matters of administration, management, expenditure and purchasing of materials of the school. This is the reason why he is acquitted. Apart from this, while giving the verdict, the court said that the complaint and FIR against Deepesh Gupta is cancelled.
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