New Delhi:
Legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and his wife have approached the Delhi High Court challenging certain provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which prohibit the destruction of stray dogs in killing chambers and the extermination or destruction of any animal under the authority of any law permits.
The petition was listed for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula, which gave time to counsel for the petitioners to make certain judgments public.
The Supreme Court posted the petition on October 13 for further hearing.
Petitioners Kapil Dev, his wife Romi Dev and animal rights activist Anjali Gopalan, said the petition was filed due to repeated cases of barbaric treatment of animals displaying the “most brutal and cruel face of humanity” and the “utterly tired”. response from the law and law enforcement agencies.
The plea challenged Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, saying it was without deterrent and manifestly arbitrary as it trivializes life and denies animals any meaningful existence by treating their mutilation and killing as small and frivolous actions, and to make fun of their deaths. by imposing a penalty of less than Rs 10.
Section 11 deals with cruel treatment of animals and carries a fine which should not be less than Rs 10 but may go up to Rs 50 in case of the first offense. For the second or subsequent offense committed within three years of the previous offence, the penalty shall include a fine which shall not be less than Rs 25 but may extend to Rs 100 or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or both.
“Section 11 is further unfair and unreasonable insofar as the exception under the PCA Act which permits cruelty to animals for the purposes mentioned in section 11(3)(b) (destruction of stray dogs in killing chambers), section 11(3)(c) ) (extermination or destruction of any animal under the authority of any law for the time being in force)…,” the plea read.
It also has sections 428 (Mischief by killing or mutilating animals worth ten rupees) and 429 (Mischief by killing or mutilating cattle, etc., of any value or any animal worth fifty rupees ) of Indian criminal law. Code claiming to be an example of speciesism, which indicates a lack of moral worth or worth in animals.
“The said sections of the IPC are furthermore unfair, unreasonable and arbitrary as they allow animals to be treated as property and morally less important than humans and as these have an inbuilt attitude of prejudice and thereby create an arbitrary classification and are thereby affected by unreasonableness,” the plea said.
The provisions of the IPC remain unavailable for the protection of the rights of animals against serious crimes such as maiming or killing, especially where such assessment is not possible, and in cases where the animal is a street animal and not a pet, or where the animal is disabled. or has become unprofitable due to old age, according to the plea.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)