‘Cat named Daisy drove everyone crazy’: HC clears Bengaluru man of abducting neighbour’s cat; slams police over whimsical pursuit of justice

BENGALURU: Karnataka high court on Tuesday quashed proceedings against a man from Bengaluru, who was accused of abducting a neighbour’s cat, and admonished police for “allowing themselves to be swept into a whimsical pursuit” of justice for a cat.Justice M Nagaprasanna, who heard the case, orally noted, “Cat named Daisy drove everyone crazy.”Nikitha Anjana Iyer filed a complaint on February 1, 2022, claiming Daisy’s disappearance was a case of abduction. She claimed her cat was confined on the premises of Taha Husain, her neighbourin Shikaripalya in Bengaluru district, causing her significant emotional distress, as she considered the cat her child.Following an investigation, police filed a chargesheet, removing sections 428 and 429 of the BNS (punishment for harming animals), maintaining only charges of intentional insult and criminal intimidation against the accused, Taha.

Taha, though, contested the FIR, presenting CCTV evidence showing the cat moving freely between windows, asserting it never stayed put on his property. Nikitha did not appear before high court.Justice Nagaprasanna observed that the chargesheet contained additional allegations not present in the original complaint, including claims of abuse and sexual misconduct towards the complainant.“It is not merely the present prosecution that warrants judicial censure. It is the symptomatic misuse of the criminal process, where hurt feelings or robust grievances masquerade as legal wrongs. If such frivolous grievances are allowed to blossom into a full-fledged criminal trial, it would be nothing but a waste of precious judicial time and, more gravely, diverting police resources from genuine grievances,” the court said in its order. “If proceedings of this nature are permitted to continue, it would be a travesty, 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 added.“Police, too, deserve stern admonition for allowing themselves to be swept into a whimsical pursuit of justice for a cat. Cases of this nature should serve as a reminder that the law is a solemn instrument and not a toy to be played at the altar of personal pique,” Justice Nagaprasanna observed, while dismissing the case.