Will You Name Your Pet Dog After A Hindu God Or Muslim Prophet: Calcutta HC Asks AAG During Hearing Of VHP's Plea Against Naming Of Lions
The Calcutta High Court today while hearing Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) plea challenging the naming of the Lioness "Sita" in Siliguri Safari Park asked the Additional Advocate General Joyjit Chowdhary who appeared for the State if he would name his pet dog after a Hindu God or Muslim Prophet. The Court also remarked that Sita is worshipped by a large number of people.
Yesterday, the Court had sought instructions from the State after the Petitioner submitted that there is lack of clarity on whether the Lioness was actually named so by the State.
The High Court was today informed by the State that the Lions were named by the State of Tripura from where they were brought to West Bengal. The Court was also told by the State that the Writ Petition in the present form is not maintainable and should be treated as Public Interest Litigation.
The Court was also told that the State of West Bengal is contemplating to rename the Lions.
A bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya at the outset remarked, “...because it is a secular country and every community has it own rights to pursue their religion. So if it is found a particular religion sentiment is tarnished..... they can come up in a PIL...".
“I was thinking last night that whether an animal can be named after a god, mythological heroes, freedom fighter or Nobel laureates…can you name a Lion after Swami Vivekanand…Mr Chowdhary can you do this?... Today we are not considering the naming of a dog of a Zoological officer of a Zoo. He can keep his pet dog and name whatever he likes but when it is welfare state and it is secular state why should you draw controversy by naming a lion after Sita and Akbar?", Justice Saugata asked.
The AAG responded by saying that the State of West Bengal did not name the animals, it was the state of Tripura.
During the hearing, the Court also remarked, "...Will you name your dog after a pet dog after a mythological (God) or Hindu Goddess or Muslim Prophet?...It is a welfare state and the authority who maintains this name is a State under Article 12. And if it has been named, then it should be shunned”.
“Our State is already suffering from many controversies, right from appointment of teachers to other controversies”, he added further.
Justice Saugata also commented, “I also do not support naming of a Lion after Akbar…he was an efficient Mughal emperor”.
The Court ultimately passed an order granting liberty to the Petitioner to amend the Writ Petition to make a Public Interest Litigation and directed the Registry to list it before the appropriate Bench.
The Court, during the hearing yesterday, observed that, "If it (Lioness) is not named by the State then there is no need to consider the grievance of the petitioner but if it is named then this Court will have to consider".
Senior Advocate Sudipto Mazumdar who appeared for the VHP in the matter, yesterday submitted that two zoological authorities have been added as respondents in the case. The Bench was first surprised to hear that the matter pertained to the nomenclature of the Lions. The Court said that when it heard the Petitioner, it thought that the matter pertained to the nomenclature of "land" and not "Lion".
During the hearing, the Court expressed doubt whether the matter should be treated as a PIL since the Petitioner organisation is not directly aggrieved. On the Court's query whether the Lioness has actually been so named by the State, the State's Counsel said that he has not been able to obtain instructions.
