The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) attempting to declare the entire animal kingdom a legal entity with the same rights as humans in a long-awaited decision. The court decided that animals cannot be considered legal entities and cannot have the same rights as humans. A group of animal rights advocates filed the PIL, arguing that animals, like humans, have the right to life, liberty, and respect. The judgement was given by a bench comprising of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath.
The petitioners wanted to recognise animals’ legal identity and provide them with the same legal protection as humans. They contended that because animals are sentient beings capable of feeling pain, suffering, and pleasure, they are entitled to the same legal protection as humans.
The petition stated that recently, a couple of instances of animal cruelty have come to light in the last few months, raising concerns about how humans can be so callous to animals and that such incidents have further enraged many and made one wonder whether the laws in place are adequate to protect animals from potential abuse and cruelty, citing the Kerala Elephant Tragedy, the sale of dog meat in Nagaland, and other incidents.
The Petitioner also drew the Court’s attention to the lack of government data or any public record to monitor Animal Abuse and Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 cases in addition to the fact that NCRB reports do not include any distinct records of statistical data related to animal crime under Sections 377, 428, and 429 of the IPC. They also pointed out that there was no mention of any statistical data related to animal cruelty in Annual Reports of the Ministry of Environment or any other ministry, and the only relevant data available with the Ministry of Environment. Subsequently the Petitioner voiced grave concerns about the likely “sadistic evolution” of animal cruelty perpetrators, claiming that they are very likely to harm people as well.
The Supreme Court, however, rejected the petition, stating that animals cannot be given the same legal rights as humans. While animals should be treated with compassion and respect, the court stated that they cannot be deemed legal entities with the same rights as humans. The decisions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Karnail Singh & Ors v. State of Haryana and the Uttarakhand High Court in Narayan Dutt Bhatt v. Union of India & Ors., in which all animals in the animal kingdom were recognised as legal entities and all citizens of these states were declared persons in loco parentis, were relied on. (In place of a parent).
The bench stated that the petition could not be heard under its extraordinary authority under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution. “We find that the prayer sought in the writ petition cannot be granted by this Court in its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution of India”, the bench had stated in the order.
Written by- Anagha Anuraj, student of IIM Rohtak, 1st year, BBA LLB.
