HC raps cops for whimsical pursuit of justice for a cat

A DOMESTIC cat named 'Daisy' appears to have driven everyone crazy, and even the criminal justice system and police ought not to have entertained a kidnap complaint, which did not indicate any cognizable offence, the Karnataka High Court said, quashing criminal proceedings initiated by a woman against her neighbour, who was chargesheeted by police for 'extraneous reasons'.

- YATHIRAJU @Bengaluru

"If the contents of the complaint are seen, it shocks the conscience of the court as to how the jurisdictional police could have registered the complaint. There is no offence in the complaint, except a missing cat and alleged wrongful custody of the cat in the house of the accused. The safety of her cat, which the complainant contends she was taking care of like a child, forms the fulcrum of the complaint. The entire police machinery gets involved in the case of a missing cat, recording statements of neighbours, checking CCTV footage and finding nothing, but filing a charge sheet, dropping offences under Sections 428 and 429 IPC, but retaining offences under Sections 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC," the high court observed.