7 cattle thieves get life term for firing at police
The observations came in a 2013 case in which an encounter between a gang of cattle lifters from Mewat and Delhi Police had taken place on the Outer Ring Road.
A Delhi court while sentencing seven members of a Mewat gang to life imprisonment for firing at policemen during a shootout between the gang and police last year in the capital, has observed that the Centre should draft a “national policy” to protect cattle in the country.
The court awarded life imprisonment to Uttar Pradesh residents Anwar, Ankur Kumar, Sanwar, Khalid, Tasleem, Hasrat and Asif for attempt to murder. It also convicted them of charges of criminal conspiracy, obstructing public servant in discharging duty, assaulting and voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty. They have been also held guilty under the provisions of the Delhi Agriculture Cattle Preservation Act and Prevention of damage to Public Property Act.
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ASJ Kamini Lau said the men exhibited gross criminal apathy to the fact that their acts have the effect of hurting religious sentiments of a section of society and promoting enmity between different religious groups.
Referring to Article 48 of the Constitution, Judge Lau said, “…It is desirable that the government draft a national policy where cattle so rescued, particularly the milch cattle which are a national wealth, are protected, preserved and taken care of.” The court also said that “religious beliefs” have to be respected with relation to cattle.
The judge has also expressed her disappointment over the non-invoking of the provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, against the accused.
The observations came in a 2013 case in which an encounter between a gang of cattle lifters from Mewat and Delhi Police had taken place on the Outer Ring Road. According to the prosecution, the accused were trying to flee with the animals meant for slaughter. During the encounter, one of the gang members died while a policeman sustained injury.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
