NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 19, 2002: For Bazee.com, it was probably just another item. But a tiger skin under the hammer at this e-auction website signalled a chain reaction which has made the site modify its terms and conditions to specifically exclude any trading in animal skins. The issue blew up when the Wildlife Trust of India, a group of conservationists, noticed a tiger skin, touted as the world’s largest at 11 ft 7 inches, up for $1 million on this site. Union animal welfare minister Maneka Gandhi promptly shot off a letter to the site managers. Eventually, it turned out that the Meerut-based owner of the skin was not doing anything illegal by putting up the item for sale. Many others do, however, sell skins without legally valid certificates. So, Bazee.com has now decided to add items covered by the Wildlife Protection Act to its list of items forbidden for sale on the site, irrespective of the legal position. “We scan the site daily for such things,” says Bazee.com’s Avinash Bajaj. “Nothing of this sort will be allowed.” It is, therefore, modifying its terms of use, agreed upon by anyone using the site, to specifically exclude trading in animal skins. Bajaj says they also plan to meet officials of Mumbai police’s cyber crime cell to see if they can help with action against possible offenders.
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