In 2001, Tulsiabai and Mantosibai were arrested on a train somewhere between Bina and Damoh stations in Madhya Pradesh. The two women poachers were held with four leopard skins hidden in the folds of their saris. A year later, they were convicted — a rare feat considering wildlife cases often drag on for years. That was the first wildlife case Manjula Shrivastava won and now, 13 years later, Shrivastava, a standing counsel with Delhi-based NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) and a Special Public Prosecutor (Wildlife) for the government of Madhya Pradesh, has secured over 121 convictions in wildlife poaching cases.

The 42-year-old has taken on some of the most hardened poachers in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh. In her 14 years of practice, she has been responsible for over 121 convictions at a conviction rate of between 70 and 80 per cent.

According to the WPSI website, Shrivastava was “instrumental in the conviction of a total of 43 wildlife criminals, including five cases involving Schedule I species” in 2008 alone.

Nitin Desai, the WPSI director in Central India, says what makes Shrivastava’s work significant is that the Wildlife Protection Act, though “powerful”, doesn’t have a procedural code and “prosecutors have to rely heavily on the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)”. And it is in this area that Manjula has worked wonders.

“With her amazing grasp of both laws, she has not only obtained several convictions, but has also managed to convince the courts to divert part of the money received as fines from convicted poachers to the Forest Department as compensation for losing wild animals. This is extremely rare. We are very proud of her work,” says Desai, one of world’s leading anti-poaching experts.

Shrivastava is also the legal advisor for Panna Tiger Reserve and the honorary wildlife warden for Katni district. She doesn’t charge any money for her work for the Katni Forest Department

Shrivastava says the main problem in wildlife cases is of “witnesses turning hostile”. “Sometimes, the ground staff of the Forest Department also cause problems. Five years ago, a Forest Department vehicle had hit a tigress in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve,” she says. After she took up the case, some forest officers moved the Bar Council, demanding that her licence be cancelled. “But I won that battle,” she says proudly. It led to the suspension of two range forest officers and a sub-divisional officer.

The cases in which Shrivastava has been successful in getting convictions range from poaching and trade in tiger and leopard parts, to crimes against herbivores. She also handles cases related to mining in forest areas, family disputes and other crimes. Her work, however, comes with its share of risks.

“I often get abuses and threats from relatives of convicts, sometimes right on the court premises, and am often escorted out in a jail van. But I do my work because this is the only way I can repay my debt to Mother Earth,” says Shrivastava.

Important cases

2010: Dariya Harful Bagdi and his wife Shanti convicted in a 1988 tiger poaching case after evading trial for 22 years.

2010: Ittu and Bhailal Baiga convicted for poisoning a water hole which led to the death of three leopards.



2008: Dariya, a notorious tiger poacher, convicted by a court in Katni. A tiger spring-trap, a leopard spring-trap, a cheetal skin, antlers, a spear and other poaching equipment recovered from him.



2008: ‘Capsule Pardhi’ and ‘Cyclebai’ convicted in a 1998 case where four leopard skins seized.



2004: Seven leopard skins seized and nine poachers arrested and convicted. Mastermind Shabbir Hasan Qureshi of Allahabad, who was an absconder, arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police in 2007 and brought to MP to be tried and also convicted.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.