Paying compensation: PPP lawmakers likely to evade imprisonment

MPs are among seven booked for hunting deer

HYDERABAD: Three legislators booked for killing endangered deer in Tharparkar are likely to escape punishment after paying hefty fines.

Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) officials claim that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA from Tharparkar, Fakiq Sher Muhammad Bilalani, who hosted the hunting, has conveyed that they will pay a fine to avoid litigation.

Bilalani, PPP’s MNA from Nawabshah, Ghulam Mustafa Shah, and MPA from Kambar Shahdadkot, Sardar Ghaibi Khan Chandio, are among seven persons nominated in the FIR for killing five deer. Photographs with their ‘game’, which were reportedly uploaded on Facebook by Bilalani’s son, went viral on social media and caused uproar. They have since been removed.

The SWD initially appeared reluctant to pursue the case but, according to game warden Shaukat Hingorjo, the FIR was registered on the order of wildlife deputy director Sarwar Jamali two days after the incident.

“If the accused agree, they will have to pay around Rs750,000 in fines,” said SWD’s Ashfaq Memon, who is a complainant in the FIR.

The Sindh wildlife protection law allows a game officer to charge compensation and value of property - the estimated price of the animal - from an accused to settle the case. The officer is empowered to quash the FIR. However, if convicted, the accused can face up to 12 months imprisonment.

Although Memon did not confirm that Bilalani has agreed on such a settlement, an SWD official confirmed they are under pressure from Sindh government high-ups to resolve the issue with a fine and not bring the lawmakers into ‘disrepute’.

According to Memon, the estimated population of deer in Tharparkar is anywhere from 700 to 1,000. But a local wildlife and rights activist, Bharumal Amrani, said no wildlife survey has been carried out for a long time to determine the estimated population of deer.

He said influential people frequently hunt animals but rarely a case comes to the surface. “The game wardens are appointed on a political basis. How can we expect them to work independently?” he asked.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2016.