HC raps Centre for discrepancies in data on circus animals
New Delhi: Observing the "massive gap" in the number of animals found with it through an RTI response and those it claims to have information on, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to file a status report within the next seven days, specifying the circuses which have been closed down and the fate of animals inside them, one of the lawyers representing petitioner People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said.
The court of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar, during the hearing, expressed their grievance at the fact that as per an RTI response given by AWBI, there are a total of 744 animals with it, however, as per a status report submitted before the court, there is information for only 28 animals. On this, the court directed both the respondents to file affidavits disclosing the status of animals registered, Senior Counsel for PETA, Swati Sumbly, said.
Furthermore, noting that out of the 28 registered circuses, inspection has been carried out only on 19 circuses, the division bench said in its order that the Board shall carry out inspection of the remaining circuses and place the status report on record.
The direction came while the court was hearing PILs filed by PETA and Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), which seeks an immediate prohibition of training and exhibition of performing animals in circuses and mobile entertainment facilities across India and seeks directions to the Centre to notify the Performing Animals (Registration) Amendment Rules of 2018, which prohibits such activities. The plea contends that due to the COVID-19 outbreak, circuses across the country are finding it tough to feed the animals in the face of financial crunch in turn leading to their death and seeks their protection.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Aman Hingorani, on behalf of PETA, pointing out the AWBI has not submitted a status report yet and that CZA needs to file a detailed affidavit explaining the status of elephants in Great Golden Circus in Gujarat, which has transferred elephants to a religious trust without CZA's permission and for which a show cause notice was also issued by the latter. The counsel also argued that many circuses have closed down as per the information received through the inspection by AWBI and therefore, "it is important to know how many circuses are functioning till date". The matter will now be heard on January 28 next year. The court order for the matter was not released till the filing of this report.
