Taken away for alleged cruelty, court returns dogs to owner
(Sourced from PTI)
Taken away for alleged cruelty meted out to them, a Delhi court handed back the custody of two Golden Retriever dogs, Luv and Kush to their businessman owner, saying it would be unjustified to deprive him of the companionship and custody of his pets. The dogs were taken away by an NGO, People for Animals, founded by Maneka Gandhi along with the Delhi Police.
Additional Sessions Judge Anil Antil passed the order after taking note of a police report about their upkeep at their owner's place and their veterinary doctor's opinion, who had deposed before the court through video conferencing. The judge, however, directed the businessman, Anand Kumar Mohatta, to produce both the dogs before the court and police as and when required during the ongoing proceedings.
The court passed the directions on a revised petition filed by advocate Tarun Rana, appearing for Mohatta, against an order of a magisterial court refusing custody to the owner. Both the dogs were taken away on January 30 by the NGO, accusing Mohatta of cruelty.
The NGO said that at the time of the raid, dogs were suffering from high fever with swollen eyes, and later, after a thorough examination by a government veterinary doctor, they were found suffering from parvovirus. The allegations were refuted by Mohatta, represented by advocate Vivek Jaiswal. He said they were properly taken care of including regular visits to doctors and vaccination as prescribed.
In the status reply filed by the Delhi Police, the court noted that the dogs had a separate 400 square feet accommodation at the premises they were taken from. Mohatta had also employed a servant to look after both the dogs, the court noted. The court also took note of the ownership certificate, vaccination certificate, and medical certificate related to the dogs.
The veterinary doctor joined the proceedings through video conferencing and endorsed the submissions made by advocate Rana and produced on record the medical documents regarding the administration of the vaccine for parvovirus, which the pets were found to be suffering from.
Both the pets were released on a bond of Rs. 40,000 each as per the order passed by the judge on February 25. The court asked Mohatta to file the dogs' health and medical status reports issued by their veterinary doctor twice a month before the court, which is conducting the proceedings for alleged cruelty until the case is disposed of.
