TIMES OF INDIA (New Delhi) 11 September 03 Magistrate to decide snake's fate in court (Harpreet K Kang)
Ludhiana: The Executive Magistrate's court at Ludhiana had a difficult decision to handle. It had to decide the fate of a huge serpent in the court on Thursday.
The magician, Shankar Samrat, who had come to Ludhiana to perform had brought the anaconda-like snake, more like a anaconda to the city. He had been giving magic show performances for the past few days at Shingaar Cinema, when on Monday, the People for Animals local representative had lodged a complaint against the use of the snake at the show.
The Deputy Commissioner, Anurag Verma had further directed the District Forest Office to look into the matter. Guramanpreet Singh, the Forest Range officer told the TNN that in fact Shankar Samrat had taken the serpent on rent from two persons, Bahadur Singh and Yashpal Singh. The two had conceded to this and had stated that they had the documents and a license to keep the serpent.
While the Forest Range officer insists that this breed of snakes are banned from being kept as a pet, or be hunt or killed, the Executive Magistrate has for now returned the serpent to the two owners, and has taken affidavits from both, stating that by the 30th of this month they would produce the relevant documents in the court, failing which they would be arrested by the District Forest Officer.
Magistrate to decide snake's fate in court