Observing that the horse-drawn&nbsp;carriages, famously known as 'Victoria' carriages, plying in Mumbai&nbsp;were "illegal and violative of Prevention of Cruelty&nbsp;to Animals Act", the Bombay High Court today directed the&nbsp;Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to completely ban&nbsp;them after a year.
<img title="Victorian" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2015/jun/Victorian.jpg" alt="Victorian" /> End of Victorian era? The Victoria was spotted at Nariman Point on Monday. Pic/ Suresh KK
A division bench of Justices A S Oka and A K Menon was&nbsp;hearing a public interest litigation filed by city-based NGO&nbsp;'Animals and Birds Charitable Trust' alleging cruelty to&nbsp;horses by using them for joyrides.
The petitioners, including NGOs- People for Animals&nbsp;and People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), sought a&nbsp;direction to ban plying of Victoria horse carriages.
The high court today directed all authorities to ensure&nbsp;that use of horse-drawn carriages and/or victorias in Mumbai&nbsp;shall be completely stopped after a year.&nbsp;
"We hold that the use of horse-driven carriages/Victorias&nbsp;in Mumbai for joyrides is completely illegal. The activity of&nbsp;using horse-driven carriages only for joyrides solely for&nbsp;human pleasure is an avoidable activity. Horse-driven&nbsp;carriages only for joyrides is violative of Section 3 and 11&nbsp;of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act," the bench said.
The court has also directed that all stables meant for&nbsp;horses in the city be closed down after a year.
Taking into account the fact that around 700 families are&nbsp;dependent of this business of Victoria carriages, the court&nbsp;has asked the state government to formulate a scheme for&nbsp;rehabilitation of these families.
"The government shall also formulate a rehabilitation&nbsp;scheme for the horses. If any reputed animal welfare&nbsp;organisation comes forward to take care of these horses, then&nbsp;the state government is free to consider the same," the court&nbsp;said.
The government has been directed to formulate the scheme&nbsp;by December 31, 2015 and submit a compliance report in&nbsp;January 2016 before the high court.
The court specified that the ban on Victorias and&nbsp;horse-drawn carriages after a year is only for the city of&nbsp;Mumbai.
"In other cities, such carriages may be used for other&nbsp;purposes too. But if it is noticed that carriages are used for joyrides, then that should be stopped by the concerned&nbsp;authority," the court said.

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the BMC to completely ban&nbsp;horse-drawn 'Victoria' carriages plying in Mumbai&nbsp;after a year

Mumbai: No 'Victoria' rides after a year as HC orders ban

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Mumbai: No 'Victoria' rides after a year as HC orders ban

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