Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in India

Hi

This is regarding the age old issue of raising pets in apartments. My apartment association had issued a rule around four years back disallowing pets within premises. However this rule was created for a purpose then. We had a tenant who had got two dalmatian puppies from a fren of theirs. They had no intention of raising them. They Just got it , to look after it while their frens were out of town. They tied the two dalmatians to a tree outside their house, and as a result the poor puppies kept barking the whole night. This obviously did not go down too well with a lot of neighbors who ended up chasing the tenants out and framing these baseless rules.

Its been 4 years now , and i have recently got home a Labrador puppy from mrs Sharmila. I got her when she was 45 days old and she 's been 3 months now.Our Dog is always confined to my house. she s on leash when we take her outside for walks, exercise and potty.Being young and well groomed she doesn't bark at all. She s has been given all her vaccinations on time. In no way has my pet been a threat / nuisance/ hindrance to anyone in my society. As a result, neither did the secretary nor did the president of our association bother with the rules for the last three months. However there s been one neighbor who resides right above our house, and for varied reasons we do not gel along together. We have had fights over various reasons in the past. Vindictive that he is , he has now issued a notice to the secretary and president regarding the violation of rules. We have clearly expressed our concern and have also queried others if they have faced any disturbance or concerns regarding our pet. Most of them were unaware that we had one at home. That was how quiet our pet used to be.However this guy has made it his mission to get a revolution started against us.He s been almost doing a door to door campaign to get us or the dog to evacuate.

Having harassed us so much , i would now like to know if its possible for us to file a complaint against him.

Can I take legal help in doing so. Just because a rule has been established is it mandatory to follow it even if my pet does not cause disturbance or even when we act as responsible pet owners.Can i take this matter in court and sue the concerned person. To my knowledge I am not violating a constitutional or state law.Do i need to hold the rules of the association above everything else?

I have read over the internet that pet owners in Mumbai and delhi have sued their associations for rules as simple as not being allowed to use lifts or being charged a pet maintenance. I understand that most people in mumbai live in apartments and skyscrapers considering their demographics. In chennai we do have independent houses.So probably you dont have many such cases going to court. But just because you dont own one does that mean you are disqualified from owning a pet. Even if it is breed that can be raised in an apartment. I am also concerned that going forward, there might be people framing false allegations against the dog just to get it out.Maybe accuse my pet of having harmed them in some way or the other. Prior to that i would like to do something.Is it possible for me to fight this battle legally and get the association laws reversed since We are also the owner of apartment.

If you can help me with the technicalities of this case, in other words who can help me legally with this case, i would appreciate the same.

Regards

Varsha Rajan

Contact via mail:[email protected]


Asked on 5/28/12, 1:34 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sudershan Goel India Law Offices of Sudershan Goel - Advocate

You are of course well within your rights to keep and maintain pets in your apt. So long as a rule exists, it may be enforced by the competent authority. However, such a rule should be challenged before the appropriate forum. In this case, if the rule in question has been made by a Cooperative Society, you may challenge the same before the Registrar, Coop Socieites of your State.

They may at best direct you to follow a proper protocol for maintenance of your pets, which you are already doing as an informed citizen.

In my opinion such a rule should go and appropriate action should be taken to sort out the issue till its logical end.

Wish you good luck!

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Answered on 5/28/12, 2:03 am


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