Bombay High Court issues notice to railway authorities over alleged harassment faced by a woman advocate for feeding stray dogs at Bandra station

The Bombay High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Railway Protection Police (RPF) and also the Government Railway Police (GRP) in a petition filed by a woman lawyer, who was allegedly harassed by the railway officials for feeding a disabled dog on the premises. from Bandra railway station.

A division bench of judges Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan has also directed authorities to preserve the CCTV footage of platform number 1 of Bandra railway station, where the incident took place on September 6.

“Issue notice, return it on November 19. After hearing the petitioner’s counsel, we deem it fit to direct the authorities to preserve the CCTV footage of platform number 1 of Bandra Railway Station dated September 6. Parties must file an affidavit… reply no later than the following date,” the bank said in the order.

According to petitioner Amreen Shaikh (34), a lawyer by profession, she came across a disabled and seriously ill old dog on September 6 while leaving Bandra railway station. As an animal activist, she decided to feed the dog, stating that it was her ‘duty’ to feed the dog. But as soon as she served some food to the dog on a packet, a female GRP officer ‘aggressively’ approached her and started shouting at her for feeding the dog on the railway property. The lawyer alleged that the lady GRP official along with her female colleagues continued to ‘abuse’ her and even made ‘defamatory’ comments about her profession.

“The rude and arrogant behavior of the officers in the presence of the public has caused mental harassment and trauma to the petitioner and has also tarnished her reputation, who was doing her duty in the interest of humanity and animal welfare.” goes the plea.

The plea further states that the women officers then took the lawyer to the Station Manager, who also picked her up for feeding the stray animals. She was then taken to the office of the senior RPF officer, who shouted at Shaikh and even warned her of legal action if she was caught feeding animals on railway premises again.

The petition therefore seeks action against all the officers involved, who ‘mistreated’ the lawyer for only feeding a stray dog.