Haryana: The trial court in Jhajjar has deferred the trial of former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and seven others involved in the alleged black buck hunting case till May 13, 2006. All the eight accused were present in court during the hearing yesterday.

After the charge sheets were filed by the Haryana police against the accused, there was confusion as to where the trial should take place. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 29, 2006 clarified that the trial should start in the Environment Court in Faridabad.

The Jhajjar court held that it had not received the official letter from the High Court for transferring the case to Faridabad. The decision will be taken on the designated date after it receives the order.

The case which has been pending for about a year now has generated everyone’s attention after the popular Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s five years jail sentence was awarded by a Jodhpur court in Rajasthan last month. Salman along with other co-actors were also accused of hunting Black buck in a case which is pending at a different court in Rajasthan.

Wildlife Trust of India has been permitted in an order dated July 19, 2005 to assist the prosecution in the Pataudi’s case and to file written submissions and verbal arguments in the court.

According to Ashok Kumar, Vice Chairman of WTI, “We have a copy of the charge sheets filed by the police and we consider that a strong case has been made out backed with evidence.”

On June 05, 2005, the accused were charge-sheeted under sections 9, 39 and 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 for hunting endangered species, possession of carcass of an endangered animal and penalty of a jail sentence of three years which can go upto seven years.

The dead animal was sent to the Veterinary Hospital in Jhajjar in Haryana on May 04, 2005 for the postmortem which confirmed that the species was a Black buck (Antelope cervacapra).

It is being alleged that two vehicles, Gypsy DL IVA 4379 and a Honda Accord DL 4CB 0523 were used on May 03, 2005 for the crime. Two guns, twenty live cartridges, 2 search lights, axe, and a Swiss knife were recovered from the vehicles under suspicious circumstances on the day of the crime, which indicated their involvement.

Media reports quoting forest officials have revealed that he had been hunting various wild species in the Jhajjar region. Furthermore, 40 wildlife trophies out of the 52 at his ancestral house, Ibrahim Palace in Pataudi village are said to have registered under the forest department in Haryana, while, the remaining 12 were unaccounted. He also hunted wild birds in Jammu and Kashmir in the past.