Rename Lion ‘Akbar’ and Lioness ‘Sita’, Calcutta High Court Directs WB Govt

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal government to rename the lion named ‘Akbar’ and the lioness named ‘Sita’, reported Bar and Bench. These two lions being kept together in the same enclosure at Bengal Safari Park had led to protests by Hindu outfits.

The single-judge bench of Calcutta High Court, Justice Saugata Bhattacharya court asked the West Bengal government’s lawyer whether he would name his own pet after a Hindu God or Muslim Prophet.

“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?” Justice Bhattacharya said.

“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,” the High Court was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench.