Delhi HC notice to Animal Welfare Board, others on plea to set up poultry farm in Hooghly

New Delhi [India], December 14 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and others on an application seeking the establishment of a poultry farm in the Hooghly district of West Bengal during the pendency of a plea against battery cages.
A Kolkata-based company Varas International Private Limited had filed an intervention application through advocates Animesh Kumar, Nishant Kumar, Akash Chatterjee and Utkarsha Sharma on a plea dealing with battery cages.
A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice to the respondents and listed the matter for further hearing on December 22.
The application said the applicant has a piece land measuring 4.99 acres in Hooghly, West Bengal where they want to set up the poultry farm at the earliest.
However, the Animal Husbandry Department informed the applicant that they can go ahead to set up a battery cage-type poultry farm only after the pending petition is decided, the intervention application submitted.
The Delhi High Court had, in an order dated August 29, 2018, directed the respondents to formulate necessary provisions for the said draft rules by implementing the recommendations of the Law Commission and various other authorities.
On April 10, 2019, the court had ordered the respondents to publish the draft rules within 10 days, invite the objections from all stakeholders after due publicity and after considering the objections, place the finalised rules in draft form before this Court for consideration.
"The court intended to analyze whether the draft rules meet the requirements of law by taking note of the legalposition on the matter, relevant laws, the scientific data, the constitutional mandate and reports of the Law Commission and various other material and since then the matter has been adjourned thrice and final adjudication is still pending," the plea said.
It said the applicant seeking approval of this court for the establishment of the poultry farm and has invested a lot in acquiring intellectual property in respect of know-how for this project.
The Centre government had earlier submitted that draft guidelines for regulating breeding and transportation of poultry birds have been framed by a government-appointed committee after consulting all stakeholders.
The submission came during the hearing of a batch of PILs by NGOs Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) and the People for Animals, which have claimed that keeping egg-laying hens in small wired cages amounts to "extreme cruelty". (ANI)