Putting the police machinery to investigate the complaint of alleged “kidnap and wrongful confinement” of a pet cat has proved costly for the Bengaluru city police as the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday admonished them for “allowing themselves to be swept into whimsical pursuit of justice for a cat” in the absence of ingredients of any cognisable offence.
“The cat named Daisy appears to have driven everyone crazy and even the criminal justice system. The police ought not to have entertained the complaint, which did not indicate any cognisable offence at the outset. As a matter of fact, the complaint does not even indicate a non-cognizable offence. But, the police entertain the complaint, ostensibly, for extraneous reasons,” the court observed.
Allowing continuation of criminal proceeding “would be a travesty and putting a premium on the litigious persistence of the complainant and reducing the criminal justice system to conduct a trial, in a melodrama woven around a cat,” the court said.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while allowing the petition filed by Taha Hussain, a resident of Siraj Layout of Shikharipalya near Electronics City, Bengaluru. The petitioner had questioned the complaint lodged by his woman neighbour in February 2022, and the charge sheet filed by the Hebbagodi police.
