Published on: 3 August 2023 at 11:12 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: Animal Welfare Board of India V. Union of India (2023)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that the Animals do not enjoy the fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of India to the Citizens of India. It is held that Animals have statutory rights against cruelty under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 but it is not at par or equivalent to the fundamental rights.
26. On the question of conferring fundamental right on animals we do not have any precedent. The Division Bench in the case of A. Nagaraja (supra) also does not lay down that animals have Fundamental Rights.
The only tool available for testing this proposition is interpreting the three Amendment Acts on the anvil of reasonableness in Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
While the protection under Article 21 has been conferred on person as opposed to a citizen, which is the case in Article 19 of the Constitution, we do not think it will be prudent for us to venture into a judicial adventurism to bring bulls within the said protected mechanism. We have our doubt as to whether detaining a stray bull from the street against its wish could give rise to the constitutional writ of habeas corpus or not.
In the judgment of A. Nagaraja (supra), the question of elevation of the statutory rights of animals to the realm of fundamental rights has been left at the advisory level or has been framed as a judicial suggestion.
We do not want to venture beyond that and leave this exercise to be considered by the appropriate legislative body. We do not think Article 14 of the Constitution can also be invoked by any animal as a person. While we can test the provisions of an animal welfare legislation, that would be at the instance of a human being or a juridical person who may espouse the cause of animal welfare.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra