The Right to Life of Animals

KOCHI: It is refreshing to see the courts adopting an animal-friendly approach while interpreting legal provisions. The recent decision of the Supreme Court  (B.S. Chauhan and T.S. Thakur J.J.) holding that animals, including elephants, are entitled to compensation in road accidents is a welcome development in this field of law. The element of compassion to fellow beings as adumbrated in the Constitution is explicit when it ruled “The definition of property in the Motor Vehicles Act is very wide and is inclusive. Although it does not specifically mention animals, since it is inclusive, animals also should be included.” The court did not follow where the beaten track may lead; instead it has cut open a new track and left a trail. The Government of India’s decision banning animal dissection (vivisection) in college laboratories is a breakthrough for the ‘right to life’ of animals.The world is becoming more and more savvy of technology and, therefore, there is no reason why animal dissection shall not be altogether banned giving way to computer simulation of their physiology and pathology.   Many western countries have banned vivisection in medical schools substituting it with human cadavers and computer simulation that are considered enough to meet the educational and research requirements. Animal rights have gained international attention with leading Irish Animal Rights Group announcing plans to launch a pan- European campaign for a tourism boycott of India to protest against ‘jallikkettu’ condemning it as a cruel amusement. Animal rights have reached a crescendo with activists pleading before a federal judge in the USA for humane treatment for killer whales for the first time in  US history.  More than a decade ago, in a significant judgment (Jumbo Circus v. Union of India and others) that had a major impact on show business and the nation’s attitude towards animals,  this writer presiding over the Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala, ruled that animals have inherent rights of dignified existence akin to the basic rights of humans. The judgment while upholding a law against training  and display of five species of animals (lion, tiger, bear, panther and monkey) in circuses throughout India has corrected a constitutional anachronism and in the process  pushed the animal rights jurisprudence to a new level as commented upon. In holding that animals have right to dignity, the court has shown once more that it is prepared to go beyond the letter of the law to reinterpret and even extent it in the light of evolving public consciousness.   In the judgment it was observed, “Though not Homo Sapiens, they (animals) are also beings entitled to humane treatment. In many respects, they behave better than man. They kill to eat, and eat to live and not live to eat as some humans. They do not practise deception, fraud or falsehood as we do, and all except the very lowest exhibit some degree of intelligence ranging from learned responses to complex reasoning. What is more, they do not proliferate and deplete our planet’s resources.” In the judgment we posed the question: “If humans are entitled to fundamental rights, why not animals?” and answered it in the following words: “In our considered opinion, legal rights shall not be the exclusive preserve of humans and have to be extended beyond people, thus dismantling the thick wall with humans all on one side and non-humans on the other. While the law currently protects wildlife and endangered species from extinction, animals are denied rights, an anachronism that must necessarily change.”Let me conclude with a reference to the constitutional mandate of Article 51-A to have compassion for living creatures and the stirring opening from the Ishopanishad: “The entire universe and everything in it, animate and inanimate, is His. Let us not covet anything. Let us treat everything around us reverently, as custodians. We have no charter for dominion. All wealth is commonwealth. Let us enjoy but neither hoard nor kill. The humble frog has as much right to live as we.” (Justice Narayana Kurup is the former Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court. Email:[email protected]. The views expressed in the article are the writer’s own)