State preparing policy to alleviate miserable condition of horses near Victoria Memorial: West Bengal to Calcutta High Court

The West Bengal government has informed the Calcutta High Court that the State is formulating a policy to address the miserable conditions of horses near the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata [People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) v. State of West Bengal and Others]..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj recorded the submission of the State and asked the petitioners as well as other affected parties to submit their suggestions regarding the same to the State Counsel, who will then forward it to the concerned authority."Let the policy so formulated by the State be placed on record before the next date of hearing," the Court ordered.The Court was hearing a bunch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions moved by PETA India and Cape Foundation raising issues regarding the the miserable condition of horses/ponies/equines deployed to draw carts/tongas in violation of existing laws.Senior Advocate Amitesh Banerjee appearing for the State informed the Court that he had consulted the petitioners and their suggestions have been duly recorded.The State counsel told the Court that the present issue has now been referred to the Home Department of the State of West Bengal, and a policy decision is required in this regard which will be taken after considering all relevant material."Learned counsel for the State has submitted that he has a meeting with learned counsel for the petitioners after the previous order and suggestions have been received to take care of the miserable conditions of horses near the Victoria Memorial," the Court recorded.During the last hearing, the State government had assured the Court that authorities are in process of finding out a solution for the issue raised.This matter will be heard again on February 28, 2022..Senior Advocates Dhruba Ghosh, Abhrotosh Majumdar, advocates Biswanath Chatterjee, Saheli Sen, Sobhan Kumar Pathak, Ayan Poddar, Sourjya Das and Poulami Bhowmick appeared for the petitioners.Aside from Senior Advocate Amitesh Banerjee, advocates Sutapa Sanyal and Nilotpal Chatterjee also for the State of West Bengal..[Read Order]