Srinagar, Sept. 30 -- By Sanjeev Sirohi

At the Srinagar Bench of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, the case of Anwar Jan had little to do with animal welfare when it first reached the courtroom.

Jan had been placed under preventive detention under the J&K Public Safety Act after a record that included several criminal cases and seven cases linked to alleged bovine smuggling.

The Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani eventually quashed his detention order. Then, before closing the case, the judges turned to the law governing animal cruelty and found it badly out of step with the harm it seeks to prevent.

The judgment, Anwar Jan (Choudhary) v. Union Territory of J&K & Others, was pronounced on S...