The Bengal wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad filed a petition on the naming of a lion and a lioness as Akbar and Sita in the Bengal Safari Park, on the hearing of which the single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya asked the state government to change the names of these animals.

Citing religious sentiments, Justice Bhattacharya said that Sita is worshipped and respected by a bigger mass of the Indian population, and Akbar was a secular Mughal emperor who is widely respected. He questioned the government’s lawyer if he would name his pets after the name of a Hindu Goddess or a Muslim Prophet.

Stating the verdict, Justice Bhattacharya said that we cannot name animals after personalities who are treated with utmost respect in society and who are connected to people’s sentiments.

“Mr Counsel, will you yourself name your own pet after some Hindu God or Muslim Prophet … I think, if any one of us would have been the authority, none of us would have named them as Akbar and Sita. Can anyone of us think of naming an animal after Rabindranath Tagore? Sita is worshipped by a larger section of this country … I also oppose naming the lion after Akbar. He was an efficient, successful, and secular Mughal Emperor”, quoted as the High Court statement.

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Observing the series of political stirs in West Bengal, the High Court asked the state government to rename those wild cats.

In the petition, VHP sought to rename the lioness and keep her separate from the lion named Akbar.