'Real Crimes You Don't Register': Karnataka High Court Slams Police For Lodging FIR Over Two Missing Cows
Sebin James
27 April 2026 4:02 PM IST
While staying an FIR against a family booked for the theft of two cows in 2024, the Karnataka High Court on Monday (April 27) orally reprimanded the Police for not registering "real crimes" and instead lodging a case over missing cows.
The court was hearing a plea filed by a family of four, seeking the quashing of FIR.
Justice M Nagaprasanna orally observed that the complaint about the cow theft only came to be registered in 2026, when the alleged incident had occurred back in 2024.
The accused, all relatives, have been accused of the offence under Section 303(2) [Theft] of BNS, 2023, registered at M.K.Doddi Police Station.
“Two cows went missing in 2024…An entire family is being roped into the web of criminal proceedings in 2026 since the cows have not been traced…If this were to be permitted to continue, it would become an abuse of the process law on the face of it…”, the court dictated in its order and granted an interim stay on further investigation.
Before parting, the court orally pulled up the Police for not addressing the serious crimes happening right in front of it.
“…Real crimes, you don't register…You knock on the police station a 100 times to register a real crime. But two cows went missing two years ago, then you registered a crime”, the court orally said to the state's counsel.
Last Saturday, during the hearing of actor Ranveer Singh's plea seeking quashing of an FIR in connection with Kantara movie mimicry wow, the court had orally said:
“They (Police) go behind live-in relationships and couples…Real crime, they don't investigate. Only Section 69 BNS cases are taken up by them".
The oral remark was made when the complainant Prashanth Methel told the court that the Karnataka Police is powerful and effective to ward off any potential threats against the Actor during his proposed visit to the Chamundi Devi Temple, Mysuru.
Case Title: Mangalamma v. State of Karnataka & Anr.
Case No: CRL.P 5266/2026