1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, APPELLATE SIDE NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR Writ Petition No. 2713 of 2007 Madhukar Pandurang Gawande Vs. Dy. Chief Conservator of Forest & Ors. Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court orders or directions and Registrar's orders Court's or Judge's orders Shri Anand Parchure Adv. for petitioner. Shri M. P. Badar Adv. for respondent-Forest Deptt. Shri Kothari AGP for State. CORAM: ANOOP V. MOHTA & C. L. PANGARKAR JJ. Dated: 14 th July, 2008. This is a writ petition filed by the petitioner directing respondents to take cognizance of the petitioner's grievance and further directing them to take immediate action as per law. 2 This is with regard to the cattle trespassing in the agricultural field belonging to the petitioner and even destroying the standing crops. Though complaints were made earlier, respondent No.2 failed to take action. Without going further into the merits of the case, we need to consider the Cattle Trespass Act 1871, Section 10 which provides as under: Cattle damaging land: The cultivator or occupier of any land, or any person who has advanced cash for the cultivation of the crop or produce on any land, or the vendee or mortgagee of such crop or produce, or any part thereof, may seize or cause to be seized any cattle trespassing on such land, and doing damage thereto or to any crop or produce thereon, and send them or cause them to be sent within twenty four hours to the pound established for the village in which the land is situate. 3 Police to aid seizures: All officers of police shall, when required, aid in preventing (a) resistances to such seizures and (b) rescues from persons making such seizures. This Section is applicable to the cultivators and for occupier of any land and further it provides/envisages that any cattle if trespasses on the land and damages to the crops standing thereon, those cattle can be seized. There is further provision available under the Act, whereby complaint can be lodged by a person whose cattle have been seized under this Act and or so seized, have been detained in contravention of this Act. Such person as per Section 20 can make complaint and apply for release of the said cattle. Thus Chapter V deals with Section 20 to 22, various such aspects of complaint including the release of cattle. In this background we are of the view that the remedy is available to the petitioner to take appropriate steps under this Act. The role of police on complaint filed by a person is very important. 4 In view of this we are disposing of this petition. Respondent No. 2 to take action in accordance with law on complaint if any filed by the petitioner. JUDGE JUDGE svk