'Contempt of court': SC irked by Maneka Gandhi's criticism of its order in stray dog case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed displeasure over former Union minister Maneka Gandhi's remarks criticising apex court orders in the stray dog issue, stating that she has committed contempt of court.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria said the former minister has made "all kinds of comments" against everyone without even thinking.
Questioning senior advocate Raju Ramachandran who appeared for Gandhi, the bench said, "You said the court should be circumspect in its remark but have you asked your client what kind of remarks she has made? Have you heard her podcast? She has made all kinds of remarks against everybody without even thinking. Have you seen her body language?"
The bench said it was not initiating contempt proceedings against the former Union minister because of the court's magnanimity.
Justice Mehta asked Ramachandran what budgetary allocation has Maneka Gandhi, as a former Union minister, helped in getting to eradicate the stray dog problem.
Ramachandran replied that he has appeared even on behalf of terrorist Ajmal Kasab and budgetary allocation is a policy matter.
"Ajmal Kasab did not commit contempt of court but your client has," Justice Nath remarked.
The bench said its remark on making dog feeders accountable was not made sarcastically but on a serious note, although during a dialogue while hearing the matter.
The hearing in the case is still underway.
On January 13, the top court had said it will ask states to pay a "heavy compensation" for dog bite incidents and hold dog feeders accountable for such cases.
The court also flagged concerns over the non-implementation of norms on stray animals for the last five years.
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Bengaluru: Domestic help held for theft of gold jewellery, cash at elderly couple's house
Bengaluru (PTI): A 55-year-old domestic help was arrested for allegedly stealing gold jewellery and cash worth Rs 16 lakh from an elderly couple's house here, police said.
Dhanlakshmi had been working at the couple's house in Frazer Town for nearly 25 years, they said.
With her arrest, police claimed to have recovered 54 grams of gold jewellery and Rs 8 lakh cash, totaling worth Rs 16 lakh.
The matter came to light on February 19 when a complaint was filed in this regard at Pulakeshinagar police station, police said.
According to police, the elderly couple used to withdraw money every month from a nearby bank for household expenses and used to take the domestic help along with them. After withdrawing the cash, they would keep it in their house.
Observing this, the domestic help is suspected to have stolen cash and two gold chains weighing about 54 grams from the house since the year 2025, without the knowledge of the elderly couple.
During the course of investigation, on March 5, a notice was issued to the domestic help for an inquiry. During interrogation, she confessed to committing the theft, a senior police officer said.
"Upon questioning, the accused revealed that she had kept the stolen gold jewellery and cash at her residence. Based on the information provided by her, on March 7, 54 grams of gold jewellery and Rs 8 lakh in cash was recovered from her possession. The total value of the recovered property is Rs 16 lakh," he added.
