Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Monday strongly criticised the state police over what it called poor prioritisation of cases, telling them to “leave the cows’ investigation” and focus on serious crimes instead.
The observations came while hearing a petition filed by Mangalamma and others, including four members of a family who were booked last month in connection with the alleged disappearance of two cows. The petitioners had approached the court seeking quashing of the FIR, arguing that the case was baseless and amounted to harassment.
A bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna made the remarks during the hearing, questioning the logic behind registering a criminal case in 2026 for an incident in which two cows allegedly went missing in 2024.
“You leave the cows’ investigation. Go behind the real crimes. Why did you register this crime?” the judge asked the state’s counsel.
He further pulled up the police for what he described as selective urgency, stating that serious criminal complaints often remain unattended while minor cases receive swift action.
Questioning the disparity in policing, the judge observed that complainants in grave offences are frequently made to repeatedly visit police stations to get their complaints registered, while a case involving missing cattle from two years earlier was promptly converted into a criminal proceeding.
“Real crimes, you don’t register. They have to knock on the police station’s door a hundred times. But for two cows missing two years ago, you register a crime,” he said.
The court also noted that the entire family had been implicated after a significant delay without strong grounds, raising concerns of misuse of legal process.
“In 2024, two cows go missing. The entire family is roped into a criminal case in 2026 because the cows were not traced. If this is permitted, it would clearly amount to an abuse of the process of law,” the court stated.
After examining the matter, the High Court held that continuing the investigation would amount to abuse of process and passed an interim order staying further proceedings, granting relief to the petitioners while the case remains under consideration.
With IANS inputs