Courts clogged by frivolous fights on dogs, says senior HC judge
Bengaluru: The High Court has expressed displeasure over ‘frivolous fights’ related to the shortfalls in owners taking care of their dogs clogging up the courts.
Justice M Nagaprasanna made the observation on Wednesday, while staying a criminal case on neighbours allegedly assaulting each other physically over a pet dog dirtying the doorstep of the neighbour’s house, according to a report by Bar and Bench.
The senior judge is said to have called it surprising on the way dog owners were letting their pets without taking appropriate care of them and also giving rise to problems whose frivolous points are clogging the criminal courts. He passed an interim stay order on all further proceedings and investigation in crime number, until next date of hearing.
The petition had reportedly been filed by a family of four, claiming that a neighbor had let his dog litter its doorstep late December 2025 and objecting to it. When a fight broke out over the matter, the owner of the dog allegedly assaulted the petitioners with a stone and a bracelet. One of the petitioners was injured in the tussle and taken to hospital.
A criminal case and a counter-complaint were filed, with the dog owner and the petitioners, who then moved the HC asking for the case to be quashed. The HC bench has currently stayed the case and listed for further hearing on February 13.
On Tuesday, the judge heard a similar case, where a dog owner and two of her family members were booked in a criminal case.
The dog owners were allegedly assaulted by neighbours, who got into a fight with them arguing that the dog was frequently let out to roam in an apartment complex and defecate in public spaces.
While the petitioners filed a criminal case following the attacks on them, one of the neighbors too filed a counter-criminal case against the dog owners, accusing them of hurt and assault, among other offences.
After hearing the preliminary submissions by senior advocate Jayna Kothari, who represented the petitioners, Justice Nagaprasanna stayed the criminal case against them. He also told them not to take the dog out anywhere, currently.
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Explosive device kills 13, injures 38 on bus in southwestern Colombia as violence persists
Bogota (Colombia) (PTI): An explosive device killed 13 people travelling on a bus in southwestern Colombia on Saturday, an attack the country's army chief described as a “terrorist act" that also left at least 38 injured as violence linked to drug trafficking in the region escalates.
Octavio Guzman, the governor of the region of Cauca, said on X that the device was set off while the bus was travelling along the Panamerican Highway in the municipality of Cajibio. Five children were among the injured, Cauca Health Secretary Carolina Camargo told Noticias Caracol, a TV news program.
Gen. Hugo Lopez, commander of Colombia's Armed Forces, told a news conference that it was a “terrorist act" and blamed the network of a man known as “Ivan Mordisco” — one of Colombia's most wanted figures — and the Jaime Martínez faction. Both are dissidents of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that operate in the region.
Neither Ivan Mordisco nor the Jaime Martínez faction abide by the peace agreement signed with the state in 2016.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack on X.
“Those who carried out the attack and killed seven civilians — and wounded 17 others — in Cajibío — many of them Indigenous people — are terrorists, fascists, and drug traffickers,” he wrote.
The attack is the latest in a spate of explosions that have attempted to target public infrastructure. At least 26 incidents have taken place in the past two days in southwestern Colombia, which Lopez said have only affected civilians.
They included a shooting at a police station in the rural area of Jamundi, and an attack on a Civil Aviation radar facility in El Tambo, where authorities took down three explosives-laden drones earlier on Saturday. No one was hurt.
On Friday, two vehicles rigged with explosives were detonated near military units in Cali and Palmira, causing material damage.
The escalation of violence in that region — a territory contested by illegal armed groups linked to drug trafficking — prompted the mobilisation of high-ranking officials on Saturday. Led by Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez, the delegation that includes regional governors and local authorities, was meeting in Palmira when the deadly explosion occurred.
“These criminals seek to instil fear, but we will respond with firmness,” Sanchez said on X.
Meanwhile, Francisca Toro, governor of Valle del Cauca, has called upon the national government to provide “immediate support.” In a message on X, Toro called for a reinforcement of public security forces, enhanced intelligence operations and “decisive actions” against crime in the face of a “terrorist-level escalation.”
According to authorities, Cauca and Valle del Cauca serve as a critical hub for illicit activities of illegal armed groups vying for control over sea and river access routes leading to the port of Buenaventura — a key transit point used to traffic drugs to Central America and Europe.
The government has also offered a reward of more than 1 million dollars for information leading to the capture of “Marlon,” who is identified as the leader of the region's dissident group. On Friday, local authorities offered more than USD 14,000 for information leading to the identification and location of those behind the attacks in Cali and Palmira.
