The commissioner of police, Pune, has been directed by the Bombay high court (HC) to ensure that Maneka Gandhi’s NGO, People For Animals (PFA), is allowed to take care of over 500 animals sheltered at the residence of Lila Parulekar, the co-owner of a Marathi newspaper.
A division bench comprising chief justice Mohit Shah and justice Roshan Dalvi asked the commissioner to assist the NGO after it was told that the NGO was not being allowed to take care of the animals in pursuant to an earlier court order.
On December 2 last year, the HC had allowed the NGO’s intervention application and asked it to look after the animals, which were being ignored as Parulekar is bed-ridden and needs care herself.
Ravi Lokhande, the NGO’s advocate, informed the court on Wednesday that the security guard posted at Parulekar’s bungalow by the Marathi newspaper was not allowing PFA members to enter. “The guard restrained the NGO workers saying that Parulekar’s advocate, Kadam, had instructed him that no one should be let in,” said Lokhande.
Passing on some photographs of animals in poor health due to lack of adequate care and food, Lokhande said that some of the dogs were poisoned and their bodies dumped. “This (restraining of NGO workers) amounts to violation of the high court’s order,” added Lokhande.
The chief justice asked whether it was possible to shift the 500-odd animals to another place, where PFA could look after them. To this, Lokhande said the NGO did not have a place large enough in Pune to accommodate all the animals.
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