Tuesday, 10 May 2022 | PNS | Nainital
Hearing a petition regarding the death of police horse Shaktiman in 2016, the Uttarakhand high court has directed the State’s Home secretary to dispose of the petitioner’s representation within four weeks.According to the case details, Hoshiyar Singh Bisht filed a petition in the HC stating that on March 14, 2016, the Bharatiya Janata Party was staging a protest during the Vidhan Sabha sessionin Dehradun. The police had stopped the protesters near the Rispana bridge.Mounted police were also present at the site.A hind leg of police horse Shaktiman was broken during the protest. After inquiry, the police had lodged a case against Ganesh Joshi, Pramod Bora, Jogendra Singh Pundir, Abhishek Gaur and Rahul Rawat. The police also arrested the five and they were sent to jail later. At the time, the government had submitted applications twice in the court to withdraw the case but the court did permit that. After some time, the five were released on bail. In September 2021, the court of chief judicial magistrate, Dehradun acquitted the five for want of evidence. The petitioner has contended that the lower court acquitted the accused for want of evidence but they have committed animal cruelty for which there is evidence, including videography by the police. The petitioner has sought the case papers from the CJM court to enable him to lodge a case. Before approaching the HC, the petitioner had submitted an application in the CJM court seeking the case papers but his application was denied on the grounds that he was not a party in the case.
