SC Issues Notice In Plea Seeking For Declaration of Entire Animal Kingdom As "Legal Entities" Having the Same Rights As A Human Being

Supreme Court has issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation seeking for declaration of the entire animal kingdom, including avian and aquatic species, as "legal entities" having a distinct persona with corresponding rights of a living person. Further, reliance has been placed on the decisions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Karnail Singh & Ors v. State of Haryana, and of the Uttarakhand High Court in Narayan Dutt Bhatt v. Union of India & Ors., whereby all animals in the animal kingdom were recognized, as legal entities and all citizens of these states were declared persons in loco parentis. The Petitioner has also drawn the Court's attention towards dearth of government data or any public record to track cases of Animal Abuse and Animal Cruelty in India. A psychological disorder known as "Zoosadism", where a person derives pleasure from inflicting cruelty to animals, clearly establishes the link between animal abuse and more violent conduct.…In such circumstances, laws that impose a fine of Rupees 50 won't even teach the offender a lesson, let alone prevent others from acting the same way.