PETA lauds Rajasthan govt for moving SC against acquittal of Salman Khan in Chinkara poaching cases

New Delhi: Animal rights body PETA today lauded the Rajasthan government for moving Supreme Court against the acquittal of Bollywood actor Salman Khan in two alleged Chinkara poaching cases and said punishments for violating wildlife laws must apply "equally" to everyone.

The Rajasthan government has moved Supreme Court with a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against Sultan star Salman Khan's acquittal in two cases of poaching of chinkaras.

"The majority of the Indian public who care about wildlife will be pleased the Rajasthan government is taking steps to get the evidence of the poaching case reexamined in the Supreme Court.

"Wildlife protection laws and punishments for violating them must apply equally to everyone," said Poorva Joshipura, CEO PETA India.

Joshipura said that the acquittal in this matter is commonly considered a "fluke" since in most cases, if a person is connected with hunting or hurting wildlife, the process will not take nearly two decades and they will be booked.

"Black bucks and chinkaras are endangered and considered extremely vulnerable. And all animals who are hunted suffer immensely. Quick kills are rare and many animals who are shot suffer prolonged, painful deaths.

"Hunters often severely injure but fail to kill them, and the animals run away and die later slowly of blood loss, gangrene or starvation. Hunting rips animal families apart and leaves countless animals orphaned when mother animals are killed," Joshipura said.

Khan had been acquitted by the High Court on July 25, of two cases of poaching, wherein two chinkaras had allegedly been killed in Bhawad and one chinkara in Ghoda Farm (both in Mathania), allowing both his appeal against one year sentence and revision against five year sentence.