Czech naturalist sentenced to three years in India for illegal collecting

15/09/2008 09:53:48 September 2008. Emil Kucera, one of two Czech nationals convicted for illegally collecting rare insect species from Singhalila National Park, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Darjeeling. He was fined 50,000 Indian Rupees (INR). Petr Svacha, another Czech, was fined 20,000 INR. This is the first conviction under India's Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BDA).

Utpal Kumar Nag, Assistant Divisional Forest Officer, who spearheaded the arrest and prosecution, said, "Kucera and Svacha were convicted under both Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WPA) as well as BDA. The entomologist, Petr Svacha was fined 10,000 INR under each of these Acts. He has paid the fine already, and by doing so, has accepted the conviction. The court still has his passport; he will be confined to India, during the appeal period of four months. This case was highly publicised and the prompt legal action will definitely be a deterrent to others with similar intentions."

Punishment too small
Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) provided legal assistance to the prosecution. WTI advocate Saurabh Sharma, who attended the hearings in the court of the CJM, said, "The state should file an appeal against Svacha being let off with only a fine."

Ashok Kumar, Vice-chairman, WTI said, "This case has affirmed that the law treats poaching of insects as equal to poaching of other prominent animals. This is significant, as insects play an important role in the ecosystem. Their removal can have a severe impact on wild habitats."

However, Kumar added that different punishments for the two Czech nationals convicted for the same crime is a matter of concern. He said, "Under the WPA, minimum sentence for a person found guilty of poaching Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II species is three years imprisonment and a minimum fine of 10,000 INR. I understand that both Petr Svacha and Emil Kucera were found guilty by the court. We will receive the certified copy of the judgment in a few days."

The two Czech nationals were arrested during a raid carried out by the West Bengal Forest Department on June 22. The forest department had seized about 500 insect specimens from their rented hotel rooms in Srikhola near Darjeeling. The collection was sent to Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) for identification.