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Synopsis

Former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev and his wife have recently moved the Delhi High Court against the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act that allows the destruction of stray dogs in lethal chambers or by such other methods as may be prescribed and the extermination or destruction of any animal under the authority of any law.

A division bench comprising of CJ Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula on Tuesday granted time to the petitioners’ counsel to place on record certain judgments and posted the matter for hearing on October 13.

The petitioners namely Kapil Dev, his wife Romi Dev and animal rights activist Anjali Gopalan have moved the High Court through Advocates Shraddha Deshmukh, Nikhil Singhvi,  Shikhar Kishore, Bilal Ikram, Parth Aggarwal and Milind Raj Dixit.

The plea has been filed on account of repeated instances of barbaric treatment meted out to animals showing the “most brutal and cruel face of humanity” and the “utter effete” response of law and the law enforcing agencies.

Notably, the cricketer had approached the Apex Court in November 2022, in the backdrop of a shocking incident of a stray pregnant dog being tortured and killed in Delhi. However, in July 2023, the court had asked the petitioner to move the Delhi High Court while allowing him to withdraw his writ petition.

"The provisions of IPC remain unavailable for protection of rights of animals against grave offences such as maiming or killing, especially when such a valuation is not possible, and in cases where the animal is a street animal and not a pet or where the animal is handicapped or has been rendered unprofitable due to old age," the plea stated.

The petitioners, in the present plea have challenged Section 11 of the PCA Act, stating that it was “without deterrence” and manifestly “arbitrary” since it trivialises life and denies animals any meaningful existence by treating their mutilation and killing as petty and frivolous acts, mocking their death through imposition of punishment of less than Rs 10.

“Section 11 is further unfair and unreasonable in so far as the exception under PCA Act which permits cruelty to animals for the purposes mentioned in Section 11(3) (b) (destruction of stray dogs in lethal 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.

The plea also challenged Sections 428 (Mischief by killing or maiming animal of the value of ten rupees) and 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle, etc., of any value or any animal of the value of fifty rupees) of the Indian Penal Code claiming that it is an instance of speciesism suggesting lack of moral worth or value in animals.

Further, the plea states that the said sections of the IPC are further “unfair, unreasonable and arbitrary” as the same allow for treating animals as property and morally less important than humans, and since the same have an inbuilt attitude of prejudice and therefore creates an arbitrary classification thus being hit by unreasonableness.

“The provisions of IPC remain unavailable for protection of rights of animals against grave offences such as maiming or killing, especially when such a valuation is not possible, and in cases where the animal is a street animal and not a pet or where the animal is handicapped or has been rendered unprofitable due to old age”, the plea added.

Case Title: Kapil Dev & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.