New Delhi: Charges wereframed against notorious wildlife criminal Sansar Chand on Thursday, September 6 in a leopard skin seizure case that came up for hearing after 12 years.

Finding prima facie grounds, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi framed charges against Chand, who has already been convicted in another case and is serving a five-year jail term in Ajmer.

This latest development relates to a leopard skin seized from him in 1995. The case has been pending since then .Sansar Chand is also an accused in another five wildlife trade related cases in Delhi including one in which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has charged him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). He was also involved in the biggest seizure of wildlife articles in 1993 in Delhi.

“Considering the evidence relating to his involvement in the seizure that took place in Sadar Bazaar in Delhi , the court was of the view that the charges could be framed against him” said Saurabh Sharma, Advocate of the Wildlife Trust of India who is assisting the prosecution in the numerous cases against Sansar Chand.

“He (Sansar Chand) has been evading appearance in the court on some pretext or the other, but if he continues to show \up,the proceedings will be muchfaster,” said Ashok Kumar, Vice-Chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India expressing his happiness on this development.