After New Nirbhaya Law, it’s Time a ‘Shaktiman Act’ is Legislated

It’s high time a new law with effective provisions that protect animal rights is legislated, writes Gauri Maulekhi.

BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi raising a stick on police horse, Shaktiman (Photo: ANI, altered by The Quint)

Animal Cruelty, a Non-Cognisable Offence

• Shaktiman’s leg has had to be amputated, survival on three legs is bleak.
  
• BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi charged with several other IPC provisions related to destruction of government property and breach of peace, not animal cruelty.
  
• If charged under the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, then penalty pay would be Rs 50 and maximum of three months in jail.
  
• Animal cruelty is looked at as a non-cognisable offence.
  
• The penalty has not been revised since the inception of the Act.
  

In 2012, the brutal sacrifice of a young girl in Delhi woke up the collective conscience of the nation and the Nirbhaya Act was passed by the Parliament, amending the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Evidence Act, thereby refining the provisions and bringing them up to date.

Recently, in a shocking incident outside the Uttarakhand assembly in Dehradun, a protesting MLA snatched a baton from a cop and attacked the mounted police.

He landed multiple blows on one particular horse, Shaktiman, while other protestors yanked at the saddle of the petrified animal.

Alarmed by the assault, the horse moved backwards, tripped and fractured its hind limb irreparably. Its leg has had to be amputated but the chances of its survival on three legs are bleak.

Pittance of Fine

The fact remains that if the accused were to be charged with the provisions under the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act only, it would be a non-cognisable complaint, with no arrest.

If the complaint was to be investigated and conviction were to happen, the accused would get away by paying a penalty of a measly Rs 50. This is less than the fine paid in Delhi for not wearing a helmet.

If the attacker has to be charged with the provisions under the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act only, it would be a non-cognisable complaint, with no arrest.(Photo: iStock)

The fine is even less that it costs the government, the judiciary, the police and the prosecution to charge the MLA with such a penalty.

The penalty, rather than being a deterrent, has become a cause for people to defy the law with impunity.

Being a non-cognisable offence, it would take an animal welfare organisation to pursue the complaint all the way to the court and secure a conviction, whatever its worth.

Accused Could Walk Free

This does not happen very often. In some surprising cases, the accused cuts the trial short by admitting to the offence, paying the penalty and walking free. Rs 50 is even less than the fuel cost incurred in travelling to court.

When the Act was passed in 1960, lawmakers’ intention was to effectively discourage crime against animals. The penalty could either be Rs 50, a fairly substantial sum back then, or three months’ imprisonment.

The penalty has not been revised since the inception of the Act.

Read: ‘He Did Not Hit the Horse’, Says Daughter of BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi

No Imprisonment

Imprisonment is not even awarded in the rarest of rare cases.

Less than 1 percent cases involving crime against animals actually get reported before a magistrate and of these less than 2 percent are convicted.

No record of repeat offenders is maintained in any state.

Each of these acts is an offence under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, but a toothless penalty provision renders the law useless. (Photo: iStock)

Crime against animals is rampant and soul shatteringly gruesome. From illegal and barbaric slaughter, to illegal experiments, unregistered performances, illegal forced breeding, extreme confinement, overloading of draught animals and heart-breaking conditions in which animals are transported for slaughter.

Each of these acts is an offence under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, but a toothless penalty provision renders the law useless.

MLA Booked for Other Offences

Luckily, the MLA in question, was charged with several other IPC provisions related to destruction of government property and breach of peace.

He has been put away for now but certainly not for permanently crippling a glorious animal which may even lead to its death.

BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi, accused of attacking police horse Shaktiman during a BJP protest earlier this week, was arrested in Dehradun on Friday morning. (Photo: ANI screengrab)

Revise Penalty Provisions

The graphic images of the assault and eyewitness accounts are a wake-up call for the country.

It is time to bring in the Shaktiman Act, revising the penalty provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The country’s laws need to protect the vulnerable sections of the society. One can argue that the most vulnerable are those who do not have a voice or a vote. We are unable to protect them with an Act that is crippled by its own archaic provisions.

BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi raising a stick on police horse Shaktiman during a protest march in Dehradun earlier this week. (Photo: ANI)

You can support the #ShaktimanAct by signing the Change.org petition at bit.ly/ShaktimanAct

(The writer is a New Delhi-based animal rights activist)

Also read: Dear Shaktiman, We Humans Have Failed You...