A Delhi court has directed registration of an FIR in connection with alleged criminal misappropriation of animals entrusted by police to Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre (SGACC), run by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi.
Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Malik said that an FIR be registered after the SGCAA gave conflicting versions about the fate of the 248 cattle seized by the police from an overloaded truck in January which were a case property in a matter before the court and claimed that two-third of them had died.
"Contrary medical reports and suppression of facts of death of the animals suggest that SGACC has not disclosed the correct facts to the court.
"The property (animals) deposited with SGACC was the case property. In case of case property, the IO and the court need to be informed," the Magistrate said.
On January 12, a truck loaded with cattle was intercepted by the police and upon checking, 200 goats, 40 sheep, six calves and two buffaloes were found loaded in it in excess of the permissible limit.
All 248 animals were seized and sent to SGACC, India's oldest and Delhi's largest all-animal shelter, while the driver and owner of the truck were booked under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Later, in its medical report, SGACC informed the court that all animals were suffering from various diseases and two buffaloes have died. Following this, the court constituted a team of doctors from the Animal Husbandry Department for medical examination of the remaining 246 animals.
On its visit to SGACC, the team checked 81 animals which it found fit while it was told that the rest have died.
SGACC had also demanded over Rs 2 lakh from Sultan Qureshi, the owner of the animals, for maintaining the 81 surviving animals.
Qureshi had claimed before the court that "no animal has actually died and that it was a ploy by SGACC to criminally misappropriate the cattle."
"Let an FIR be registered in the present case," the court said while noting that death of 159 animals was revealed to the police only when a team constituted by the court visited SGACC and sought to know as to why the court was not informed about it earlier.
