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HC quashes cat kidnapping case, slams cops for ‘whimsical pursuits’
Bengaluru The Karnataka high court has quashed criminal proceedings against a Bengaluru resident accused of “kidnapping” his neighbour’s cat, Daisy, and rebuked the police for getting entangled in what it called a “whimsical pursuit of justice
Bengaluru The Karnataka high court has quashed criminal proceedings against a Bengaluru resident accused of “kidnapping” his neighbour’s cat, Daisy, and rebuked the police for getting entangled in what it called a “whimsical pursuit of justice.”
“The cat named Daisy appears to have driven everyone crazy...even the criminal justice system...,” the court said on Tuesday.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, who heard the case, expressed disbelief that a dispute over a missing feline spiralled into a full-blown criminal case, with a First Information Report (FIR), investigation, CCTV scrutiny, and a charge sheet invoking serious provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In 2022, Nikitha Anjana Iyer filed a complaint against her neighbour, Taha Hussain, alleging he wrongfully confined her pet cat. Police took the complaint at face value, registered the FIR, and began investigating. The court said what followed was a travesty.
The police initially slapped IPC Sections 428 and 429 related to acts of cruelty against animals. The sections were dropped and replaced with Sections 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (insulting a woman’s modesty) by the time the charge sheet was filed. None of those charges withstood legal scrutiny.
Justice Nagaprasanna said the entire police machinery got involved in the case of a missing cat, recorded statements of neighbours, checked CCTV footage, found nothing, and still filed a charge sheet. “...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, as there is no offence indicated except a missing cat and alleged wrongful custody.”
Iyer described Daisy as a companion she cared for “like a child.” But the court found no evidence to support the allegation that Hussain confined the cat. It accepted the petitioner’s argument that Daisy was an agile and independent feline with a habit of jumping in and out of apartment windows, hardly grounds for criminal liability.
Justice Nagaprasanna took exception to what he called “retrospective embellishments” in the charge sheet, citing new allegations, including abuse and sexual gestures, that had not featured in the original complaint. “Not even a titter of an ingredient” necessary to sustain the IPC charges was present, the court said.
The court called the case a “symptomatic misuse of the criminal process” and said such frivolous litigation clogs courts and wastes judicial and police resources.
Justice Nagaprasanna said the police deserved “stern admonishment” for allowing themselves to be swept into a dispute so clearly unfit for criminal prosecution. “Cases of this nature should serve as a gentle, but firm reminder to all stakeholders in the criminal justice system that the law is a solemn instrument — not a toy to be played with at the altar of personal pique.”
The court stayed proceedings in the case in July 2024, noting then that allowing such matters to progress would choke the criminal justice system.
In its final order on Tuesday, the court quashed all proceedings against Hussain and granted him liberty to initiate action for malicious prosecution. The court refrained from acting against the complainant, citing her absence.
