Monkey Menace: PIL In Delhi High Court Seeks Panel For Implementation Of 2007 Directions

A public interest litigation before the Delhi High Court has sought setting up a committee to ensure implementation of directions issued by a coordinate bench in 2007 to curb 'monkey menace' in the national capital.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad renotified the matter to March 22 and asked Advocate Shashwat Bharadwaj, appearing in person, to place on record the copy of the 2007 order relied upon by him.

The order in question was passed on March 14, 2007 by a division bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar in New Friends Colony Residents v. Union Of India and Ors. The bench had issued several directions for dealing with monkey menace, keeping in mind safety of human beings and welfare of animals. 

Bharadwaj’s plea seeks constitution of a committee comprising of members of the Bar, who have worked extensively for animal rights, apart from senior bureaucrats and wildlife experts, to ensure implementation of the directions to curb 'monkey menace' in the national capital.

Stating that Delhi has a “perennial problem with the vaulting ambitions of the simian race”, the plea submits that monkeys are usually seen roaming “around the centres of power” in the national capital.

“The New Delhi region which comprises of not only the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and this Hon'ble Court, but also residences of senior bureaucrats, judges and cabinet ministers and also important religious places such as the Hanuman temple at Connaught Places are visited everyday by all strata of society including the most powerful people as well as the most oommon citizens alike,” the plea states.

During the course of hearing, Bharadwaj submitted that monkeys are even seen attacking litigants in the High Court premises.

The plea also seeks a direction to call for the records of funds sanctioned in January 2019 to Delhi Government by the Central Government for sterilization of monkeys and the manner in which the same were utilised.

The plea refers to a report published by "The Print" on November 11, 2021 stating that setting up a sanctuary and putting monkeys in captivity would prove successful and that the only permanent solution is to control their population by conducting vasectomy and tubectomy.

Furthermore, it submits that there are two major causes of rising monkey population in the national capital. Firstly, mismanagement by the authorities and secondly, the animal lovers with “misplaced sympathies” who have aggravated the problem by feeding monkeys “because they are seen as descendants of Lord Hanuman.”

“We must realize that thankfully, we do not have cases where men have bitten monkeys but only of monkeys biting and attacking humans which must be resolved without any uncertain delay. This also clearly violates the Article 2l of the public as enshrined in the Constitution of India,” the plea states.

Title: SHASHWAT BHARDWAJ v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR.