http://blog. taragana. com/law/2009/ 09/17/police- register- case-against-
maneka-gandhi- 12614/#comment- 55126
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http://www.hindusta ntimes.com/ Case-registered- against-Maneka- Gandhi/H1-
Article1- 454973.aspx
The Delhi Police have booked animal rights
activist and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Maneka Gandhi and her NGO for allegedly
restraining a pet shop owner from running his business.
"The Delhi Police
have registered a case against Maneka Gandhi and the PFA (People For Animals)
under section 451 (trespassing) and 34 (acts done by several people in common
intention) of the Indian Penal Code," Imtiaz Ahmed, counsel for the pet shop
owner Ashok Pratap Rai, said.
He added that they have the copy of the
first information report (FIR) registered by the state crime branch earlier this
week.
According to Rai's complaint, on May 21 last year, five men from
PFA, posing as officials of the wildlife department, barged into his shop in
Mehrauli in his absence and accused his wife of running an illegal
establishment. The PFA men said that the shop was trading in birds and animals
covered by the Wildlife Protection Act.
Rai, however, maintains that his
business was not violating any law under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act, as the the birds and animals he deals in are not covered by the Wildlife
Protection Act.
Later, an official of the wildlife department also
vouched that the animals kept by him were not covered under the act and his shop
does not need a licence to operate.
Rai moved the high court to register
a case. The court took cognizance of the matter and issued notices to Maneka,
the PFA and the Delhi Police, asking for a reply in the matter. Rai, in his
petition, also challenged the 'raid' by the NGO employees.
"Under Section
32 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, only a police officer of a
specified rank or any person authorised by the state government on his behalf
and having a reason to believe commission of offence under the Act has power to
enter and search a place. Neither the NGO run by Maneka nor the intruders sent
by her were authorised to conduct such a raid," Rai said.
