‘CATastrophe’ averted as India court rules on COVID-19 lockdown
Pun included in court ruling that allowed Kerala man to buy biscuits for cats
New Delhi: A court in India’s Kerala state said Tuesday it wanted to avoid “a CATastrophe” by allowing a man to break a coronavirus lockdown to buy food for his furry felines.
The pun was included in a ruling by Kerala’s High Court on a petition brought by N. Prakash, a Kochi-based owner of three cats, who said he was denied a pass by police to leave his home.
Prakash told the court he was a vegetarian and the cats, as carnivores, couldn’t do without a special brand of biscuits.
The lockdown was imposed from March 25 for 21 days, with residents permitted to leave their homes only for essential services such as buying groceries and medicine.
Citing India’s animal protection laws and the government’s inclusion of animal feed as essential items permitted under the lockdown, the judges ruled in favour of Prakash and said he should be allowed to buy the biscuits.
“We have been called upon to respond to the desperate purrs of three felines,” Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar wrote in his judgement.
“We might observe, in a lighter vein, that while we are happy to have come to the aid of the felines in this case, we are also certain that our directions will help avert a ‘CATastrophe’ in the petitioner’s home.”