Calcutta High Court asks State to clarify whether it has given names Sita and Akbar to lions in Bengal Safari Park

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked the West Bengal government to submit on record whether it has given the names Sita and Akbar to the two lions brought to Siliguri's Bengal Safari Park from Tripura [Vishwa Hindu Parishad vs State of West Bengal]..Single-judge Justice Saugata Bhattacharya said that it will have to consider hearing the petition filed by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) against the naming of the lions, only if the State has given such names. This was after Additional Advocate General Debjyoti Choudhary told the Court that the State hasn't given any names to the animals. "If no names are given, then there is no point in considering this petition. But if names are given like this, we will have to intervene," Justice Bhattacharya saidThe Court, therefore, ordered the State to submit on record whether it has given any name to the animals. It then posted the case for Thursday. The plea by VHP said that giving the name Sita to the lioness has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and has also infringed their right to religion. When the matter was taken up for hearing today, the Court sought to know how someone's right to religion will be violated if a lioness in a safari park is named Sita. "How does it matter at all? May be it may be named out of affection. You might think it is slander but for some it would be out of affection. What is the difficulty if a lioness is named Sita?" the Court questioned. To this, VHP's counsel pointed out that Sita is worshipped by the Hindu community. "But don't you find a lion at the foot of goddess Durga? Isn't the lion worshipped by all of us during Durga Puja?" Justice Bhattacharya observed."No, we do not worship a lion. We only worship the goddess. There isn't any mantra for worshipping a lion," VHP counsel responded."But the lion is a part of the entire (Durga) Puja ceremony," the single-judge clarified. However, the VHP counsel went on to explain the significance of Durga Puja and that the goddess have 10 hands only to fight the evil from all the 10 directions. "To destroy the evil, animal power is needed and so we have lion at her (Durga's) feet," the counsel explained. To this, the court said, "But can you imagine an image of Durga without a lion? Answer should be no."However, the VHP counsel said there are several avatars of Durga which have no lion at all. "It therefore, depends on the perception of the individual," the judge made it clear..During the hearing, the Court was informed by the VHP counsel that the petitioners learnt from media reports that two lions (among other animals) were brought into West Bengal from a zoo in Tripura. "The zoo authorities in Tripura have told media that they haven't named the two lions. But media reports clarify that the names were given by the West Bengal government. Now, the State says it hasn't given any names. But media reports state that a male lion named Akbar is kept with a female lion Sita. This hurts the sentiments," the counsel submitted. The Court then asked the State to clarify the same on record and adjourned the case for Thursday.