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Hearing the Suo-moto case of the horrid massacre of Bonnet Macaques (monkeys) in Hassan district, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday held that the procedure followed for the investigation in the case appears having serious technical flaws that needs to be looked into.

In this horrific incident besides the 38 dead monkeys, out of the total 15 Injured one, 12 have survived so far.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice N S Sanjay Gowda said,

“ We are only worried about the fact that because of these technical defects the prosecution case might suffer…. It needs to be looked into carefully whether the Magistrate while orderint the investigation followed the procedures of Section 200 of Cr.PC or not.”

On another the point being raised in the Court that apart from penalizing the culprit in the present case the issues needs to be dealt in far depth as the farmers of the area suffer because of these wild animals, the Bench said,

“The main reason why such an incident happens is that the human beings have encroached upon the forest area.”

Regarding the Forensic Science Labrotaory (FSL) report, it was submitted by the State through Shri V. Sreenidhi, Additional Government Advocate (AGA) that the same has not been filed yet though a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted by the Forest Depratment.

Raising query regarding the power of the SIT, constituted by the Forest Department, to investigate into the matter, the court has asked the State to find out the provisions that provide for the same.

Noting that the Report filed by the Dypute Commissioner of the Hassan District (as earlier ordered) has been perused, the Bench listed the matter for futher hearing.

The matter will be next heard on Monday, August 9, 2021.

Matter in Brief

On July 29, a large number of Bonnet Macaques monkeys, a species prevalent in south India, were found dead on the roadside at Belur taluk in Karnataka's Hassan district. Along with the dead monkeys, 15 monkeys that were alive were also put in a large gunny bag. It has been alleged that monkeys were beaten mercilessly, poisoned, and stuffed in gunny bag. The gunny bags were then thrown near a village named the Chowdenahalli.

On July 30, the Karnataka High Court took suo-moto cognizance of the media reports regarding the incident. The Division Bench led by the Chief Justice directed the Registrar General o file a petition seeking action against those responsible for the massacre of monkeys. A report on the entire incident and the action taken so far was sought through the Deputy Collector as well.

The State of Karnataka through Principal Secretary of Forest department, Deputy Chief Conservator of Forest, Hassan district, Deputy Collector of Hassan District, Superintendent of Police and Animal Welfare Board have been made the respondents in the case.