High Court rejects review of Victoria rides judgment

In another setback for owners of horses and Victoria carriages, Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a review petition seeking to re-examine the judgment imposing a ban on Victoria rides in the city.

A Division Bench presided over by Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Anil Menon junked the review petitions on the ground that there was no “merit” in the contentions of the petitioners. In June 2015, a Division Bench headed by Justice Oka had banned the plying of Victoria rides in the city, terming them “illegal and cruel” to animals.

Aggrieved by the ruling, the owners of the horses and Victoria carriages approached Supreme Court challenging the verdict. The SC had sent them back asking them to move HC and seek a review.

In their review petition, the owners contended the HC has wrongly held that Victoria rides are cruel to horses as they are tortured physically. “Unlike Jallikattu, wherein animals are met to cruelty for entertainment, in Victoria rides no animal is tortured or harassed. The principles of the Jallikattu sport or the horse race cannot be applied in Victoria rides as these are only meant for joyrides,” AV Chatuphale, advocate for the petitioners, argued.

Chatuphale said the HC in its ruling had directed the civic body to shut all the stables in the city as none of them had any licence. “But there are no guidelines framed by the Municipal Commissioner specifying the how a stable for horses should be so that they can be granted licence,” Chatuphale argued.