A Karachi court rejected a plea to file a case against Dr. Saif-ur-Rehman, the Karachi Administrator, and two former and current heads of the Karachi Zoo, Khalid Hashmi and Kunwar Ayub, respectively. The plea, submitted by Lawyer Imran Aziz under sections 22-A and 22-B of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), claimed that they were responsible for the death of Noor Jehan, a 17-year-old African elephant, due to their carelessness.
The verdict was announced by Additional Sessions Judge Ashfaq Muhammad Awan after hearing both sides. The judge observed that the plea did not present any proof to back up the accusation of carelessness. On the other hand, the police and the accused showed that they took proper steps, including a tusk operation done by foreign specialists.
The judge admitted that losing Noor Jehan was a big financial loss, as Pakistan had paid about Rs. 40 million to get the elephant from Tanzania, but he stressed that proving carelessness as a criminal act needed a more careful investigation. The judge did not agree with the idea that a case should be filed first, and then carelessness should be determined. Rather, the judge said that a clear offense must be shown, and the criminal aspect of carelessness was still a matter being discussed by the High Court of Sindh.
The judge also pointed out that a petition about the treatment and welfare of elephants was already pending before the Sindh High Court. Therefore, in this specific case, the sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1890 were not relevant for a clear offense, as they required a direct complaint to be filed.
The state prosecutor said that no clear offense was established since the elephant’s death was due to a disease, not deliberate killing as stated in Section 429 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The defense lawyer for the accused agreed, saying that the plea’s claims had no basis and did not show any carelessness or criminal misconduct by their clients.
The plea was dismissed, but the judge acknowledged the significance of addressing carelessness and animal welfare. The case highlighted the need for a better understanding of whether carelessness alone was a criminal act, while the issue of carelessness in Noor Jehan’s case was already under review by the Sindh High Court.
