Quarterly fitness of horses mooted

The Bombay high court has asked the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to explain what steps are being taken against illegal stables in the city.

A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice Roshan Dalvi has also asked the government to consider having a fitness certificate for the horses every quarter instead of once a year while renewing the licence. “If you require fitness certificate once a year, then they (owners) will feed the horse just a month prior to the renewal (of licence). You should have quarterly fitness certificates,” said chief justice Shah.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by an NGO — Animals and Birds Charitable Trust — alleging that animal protection rules were being flouted and seeking that the carriages drawn by horses be banned in Mumbai. According to the PIL, there were 96 cases of cruelty against these horses and ponies filed last year under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act.

It was also noted there is no way of identifying the horse with a particular carriage and owner except his name. “The fitness certificate should bear the license number and some description of the horse,” said justice Dalvi.

Assistant government pleader, Niranjan Pandit informed the court that the license number is imprinted on the horse’s back with ink which can’t be washed away. Pandit also informed the court that they have stopped issuing fresh licenses after 1973. The number of victorias has come down from 817 to 130.

Advocate for the petitioner argued that they had received information under the RTI that at least eight stables are running illegally, without licenses. Geeta Joglekar, BMC advocate, informed the court they have initiated action against the eight stable owners.

The court has asked a responsible officer from the office of commissioner of police as to what action they are initiating against the illegal stable owners.