LEGAL PROCEDURES & THE ROLE OF POLICE IN FILING THE FIR IN ANIMAL WELFARE CASES IN INDIA
LEGAL PROCEDURES, JURISPRUDENCE AND ENFORCEMENT
The legal concepts and their applications are well known to researchers, teachers and practitioners of legal profession. But the application of legal and penal code sections are relatively new to a wider section of animal welfare professionals. As a fundamental duty, every citizen should take action against the offenders by bringing the act to the notice of the concerned official as per the legal procedure.
LEGAL PROCEDURES IN ANIMAL WELFARE
Cruelty against human beings is generally mutually solved. In some cases, unresolved cases are taken to heads of the family or community or village etc. Later on, the complaint is taken to the police stations where most of the matters are solved through the FIR (First Information Report). When no solution comes up, the matters are taken to the court where the resolutions are made. The court dealings are tedious because of the lengthy procedures involved.
Cruelty against animals requires strong attention and knowledge about the existing laws and their implications is necessary to fight for the cause of animals. The welfare of an animal includes its physical and mental state and we consider that good animal welfare implies both fitness and a sense of well-being. Any animal kept by man, must at least, be protected from unnecessary suffering. As a fundamental duty, every citizen should take action against the offenders by bringing the act to the notice of the concerned official as per the legal procedure.
For this purpose, you should know the legal procedures to be followed. This unit will help you to understand the legal procedures and rights of persons filing FIR against the offender(s).
COMMON OFFENCES AGAINST ANIMALS
Before you get an overview of the legal procedures to be taken, you should know the common offences against the animals. They can be classified into four types viz., Mischief, Maiming, Bestiality and Cruelty.
- Mischief: This includes killing, poisoning or maiming an Poisoning is the commonest method of mischievous killing. These acts of Mischief are punishable under sections 428 and section 429 of Indian Penal Code.
- Maiming: Maiming means making an animal permanently useless by the use of violence. This might happen when the owner notices that his/her animal damages the crop or other The common forms of hurting animals and rendering them useless are:
- Fracture of bone
- Cutting of tendons of legs and neck
- Injury to udder in milch animal
- Tearing of vagina or rectum by introducing sharp or blunt object
- Punctured wound
- Bestiality: Bestiality means carnal intercourse with animal against the order of nature. The common reason for this malpractice is illiteracy, low sex ratio, mental abnormalities Young villagers who go out to graze animals most often commit this crime. The active agent is the human male, while passive agent is a goat, donkey, mare, cow or even hen. Bestiality is punishable under section 377 of IPC. The factors to be considered while examining animal for bestiality are:
- The genital parts of the animal for evidence of
- Suspect for marks of injuries caused by the kicks, teeth or claws of the Clothes of the suspect will smell the urine or faeces of the animal.
- Surrounding hair of animal for the presence of human spermatozoa.
- Presence of gonorrhea in the vagina of the animal is a definite sign of
- Cruelty: This offence includes overloading, using a diseased animal for work, starvation, Phuka, injecting oxytocin/hormones by an unauthorized person These acts are punishable under the PCA Act, 1960.
HOW AND WHOM TO REPORT THE CRUELTY TO ANIMALS?
Having learnt about the types of common offences against the animals in the previous section, here, you will be introduced to the procedure of reporting the offence to the concerned official.
- SPCA (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) / Animal Welfare Organizations: As an entity, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) can’t enforce the law, but they can put you in touch with an animal activist who deals in filing complaints and bringing attention to such matters with legal or media-based intervention. Importantly, local SPCA, animal welfare organizations and animal hospitals can be contacted to provide relief to the suffering animal.
- Police: On a national level, Police are the major enforcement body of the PCA Act, 1960 and other animal welfare laws. They are obliged to take action against the offender and render help to the suffering animals, when the offence against the animal is amongst those listed in Section 11 or 12 of the PCA Act. Police are even obliged to extend help to the enforcement staff of SPCA as well as ordinary citizens to lodge a complaint/FIR against an incident of animal If the Police don’t adhere to your complaint, you can also contact the magistrate directly with a written complaint. One can also lodge a complaint under Section 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code under which, ‘mischief of killing or maiming an animal amounts to an offence’ and the offender can be imprisoned for up to five years or a fine or both.
- IPC Section 428 -Mischief by killing or maiming animal of the value of ten rupees: Whoever commits mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless any animal or animals of the value of ten rupees or upwards, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with
- IPC Section 429 – Mischief by killing or maiming cattle, , of any value or any animal of the value of fifty rupees: Whoever commits mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless, any elephant, camel, horse, mule, buffalo, bull, cow or ox, whatever may be the value thereof, or any other animal of the value of fifty rupees or upwards, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both.
The order to Police Stations in Delhi to duly record FIRs for PCA violations is summarised in Box
Order to Police Stations in Delhi to Record FIRs for PCA Violations
Office of the Special Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, Delhi
It has come to notice that, while dealing with crime against animals, most of the police officers either don’t know the various provisions of the relevant Acts or show apathy by treating such cases as frolicsome and a waste of time. At times specific sections of IPC, like 428, 429, 379, 503 and Delhi Police Act, 1978 are not invoked while booking an offender under PCA Act etc.
Henceforth, it is the responsibility of the area SHO and ACP / SDPO to properly educate / supervise / guide the Investigating Officers to ensure that while dealing with crime against animals, all the sections of relevant Acts are properly mentioned in FIRs and investigation / necessary action is taken up, accordingly. Some of the relevant laws as well as sections of IPC and DP Act 1978 enclosed, be circulated to each police station in Delhi
Sd/- (Deepak Mishra) Special Commissioner of Police ( Law & Order, Delhi)
(Source: No. 652-68/SO/Spl. C.P / L&O. dated 07/02/2014, Delhi)
3) Know the Law – What Amounts to Cruelty on Animals?
Section 11 (1) (a) to (o) of The PCA Act, 1960 prescribes and enumerates the forms of cruelty. For example, a donkey should be loaded with only 35 kgs of weight at one time; the permissible loading capacity of a truck is 4 buffaloes or 40 sheep/goats. Anything over and above it is technically illegal under the law. The maximum load that may be carried by pack animals is summarised in Box
| Maximum Load that may be Carried by Pack Animals | |
| Category of animals | Maximum load |
| 1) Small bullock or buffalo | 100 kilograms |
| 2) Medium bullock or buffalo | 150 kilograms |
| 3) Large bullock or buffalo | 175 kilograms |
| 4) Pony | 70 kilograms |
| 5) Mule | 200 kilograms |
| 6) Donkey | 50 kilograms |
| 7) Camel | 250 kilograms |
Under the PCA Act (1960), Section 43 of CPC, empowers every citizen the right to perform a ‘citizen’s arrest’ i.e. the right to arrest a person who has committed in their presence a ‘cognizable’ offence, an offence for which the offender can be arrested without a warrant.
4) Documentation is the ‘Key’
In your complaint, be factual and precise of your observation of the animal crime. Give precise date, time, location and photographic evidence, if any. You are also advised to keep a record of all the officers you are interacting with, so that if they don’t listen you can proceed to the next level in the hierarchy to demand justice for the animal/s you are fighting for. Getting a veterinarian’s certificate for the animal in consideration would also prove to be good documentary and supporting evidence. When reporting animal cruelty, we should look out for the following:
- Physical condition of the animal
- Signs of animal cruelty
- Cruelty during their training and practice
- Housing (e.g. size of cages)
- Overcrowding
- Mode of transportation, sanitation and
5) Stand-up, Speak-up Against Injustice
From the previous units, you are aware that, Indian Constitution, under Article 51 A (g) imposes upon every Indian Citizen a fundamental duty to have compassion for all living creatures. But, from subjecting animals to meaningless experiments in cosmetic-testing laboratories to killing one animal in front of the other in an illegal slaughterhouse, from holding cockfights to boiling monitor lizards alive to extract oil from their bodies, mankind does it all and that too shamelessly. It is for us who are aware and informed to keep our comforts aside momentarily and become the voice for these mute, speechless animals as they wage their lonely hopeless battle against the all-powerful ‘man’.
THE ROLE OF POLICE AND FILING THE FIR
Having learnt about to whom you should report, now you will be introduced to the process of filing First Information Report (FIR) and the role of police.
How to File an FIR?
Do you know what FIR is? How to file an FIR?
Technically an FIR refers to the information on the commission of an offence given to a police officer by the first informant. In other words, it is basically a complaint document that sets the provisions of the criminal law in motion.
To begin with, it is important to primarily understand the difference between Cognizable and Non-Cognizable offences. FIR is filed for cognizable offences.
Under the Criminal Procedure Code (commonly known as CrPC), a cognizable offence allows the police to directly register an FIR and immediately begin investigation. The accused can also be arrested without a Warrant.
Examples: Bestiality, murder, kidnapping and theft of animals are examples of offences that fall into this category.
In a Non-Cognizable Offence, the police will require the permission of the court to register a case or investigate. The accused cannot be arrested without a Warrant and the offence is bailable.
Examples: Trespassing, making a public nuisance, misappropriation, physical assault, forgery, causing simple hurt, and simple cheating.
The difference between an FIR and a Police Complaint are summarized in Box
Difference between an FIR and a Police Complaint
The FIR relates to a cognizable offence, whereas a police complaint can be filed for both non-cognizable and cognizable class of offences.
They are different in terms of offences they deal with, punishments, legal consequences, evidentiary value, etc.
Further, a complaint may be given to a magistrate either by the way of spoken words or in writing, whereas the FIR is lodged at the police station nearby the place of commission of crime.
In the event someone is trying to file an FIR for a crime that falls in the non-cognizable category, it is the duty of the police to listen to them, enter the matter in their daily register or diary, give the person a signed copy of the entry made and direct them to the closest or appropriate magistrate.
The signed copy of the entry made by the police is free of cost and is a right to receive. The police may not investigate a complaint even if you file a FIR, when:
- The case is not serious in nature.
- There is not enough ground to investigate.
- Police must record the reasons for not conducting an investigation and in the latter case must also inform
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers about FIR are summarised in Box
FIR – FAQs and Answers
- Who can lodge an FIR?
An aggrieved person.
A person who is aware about the facts of the crime. A person who has seen a crime being committed.
- When can I lodge an FIR?
You can lodge an FIR only in case of a cognizable offence.
- Where can I lodge an FIR?
To file an FIR, one has to go to the police station within the jurisdiction of which the cause of action arose or the offence took place.
How do I lodge an FIR?
Every piece of information relating to the commission of offence is to be given to the SHO. If it is given orally to the officer, he/she shall reduce it to writing and read it over to the informant to confirm and verify the details.
Every such information has to be signed by the informant after which it is required to be recorded by the officer.
Do I have to pay for lodging an FIR?
No. The informant is entitled to receive a copy of the FIR free of cost.
What are the things I should ensure while the F.I.R is being lodged?
There should be four copies being recorded, with carbon sheets in place.
Try to use simple words / language. It must be recorded in first person.
Try not to over-write or score out.
Ensure that the arrival/departure time is mentioned in the FIR and in the daily diary register at the police station.
Carefully read the document before signing.
- What do I do if the police department does not consider my FIR?
You can send the substance of such information, in writing and by post to the Superintendent of Police (SP) concerned. The SP is required to start the investigation himself/herself or direct any other officer subordinate to him to start the investigation.
- What happens to the FIR finally?
When there is sufficient evidence, a CHALLAN is prepared.
When there is insufficient evidence, FIR is declared as UNTRACEABLE.
When FIR is found to be false or is transferred to other Police Station on point of jurisdiction, it is declared as CANCELLED.
After registering the FIR, the contents of the FIR cannot be changed. Only High Court can quash the FIR.
Try not to over-write or score out.
Ensure that the arrival/departure time is mentioned in the FIR and in the daily diary register at the police station.
Carefully read the document before signing.
KEYWORDS
Carnal: Relating to physical, especially sexual needs and activities.
Complainant: The party who makes the complaint in a legal action or proceeding; one who complains.
Enforcement: The act of compelling observance of or compliance with a law, rule, or obligation.
Warrant: A document issued by a legal or government official authorizing the police or another body to make an arrest, search premises, or carry out some other action relating to the administration of justice.
Reference-Animal Law (2017). Retrieved from cupabangalore.org/animal-Law/ dt 6-12- 17.
Source-Further information on the Indira Gandhi National Open University ANIMAL WELFARE courses may be obtained from the University’s Office at
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110 068 or visit our website: http://www.ignou.ac.in
