Cuttack:In a landmark judgement,the Orissa High Court has imposed a penalty of Rs 1,000 on a 52-year-old woman for “wasting court’s time” with a petition seeking intervention to recover her pet dog from her daughter-in-law.The petitioner’s daughter-in-law took away the three-year-old dog, Beauty, during a house seizure on January 20, 2025, following a dowry harassment case filed at Mahila police station in Cuttack. The daughter-in-law had left her marital house at Barang and lodged the FIR on September 30, 2024. The marriage was solemnised on July 14, 2020.The court issued the order after the petitioner’s counsel Byomakesh Tripathy prayed for permitting her to withdraw it. “In such view of the matter, this writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn, giving liberty to the petitioner to approach the appropriate authority,” said the single judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi.“At this juncture, this court also imposes a cost of Rs 1,000 on the petitioner as she has unnecessarily wasted the valuable time of this court,” he further stated.The petitioner has been ordered to deposit the fine amount with Orissa High Court Bar Association Welfare Fund within 10 days.Prior to approaching the high court, the petitioner had filed a representation with the member secretary, State Animal Welfare Board, seeking the dog’s return.
