The Bombay High Court on Wednesday sentenced a woman to a week in jail for circulating a letter that accused High Court and Supreme Court judges of being part of a “dog mafia”, Live Law reported.

In January, the Bombay High Court had issued an order stopping a Navi Mumbai housing society from stopping a resident, Leela Verma, from feeding stray dogs.

Verma’s petition followed one filed by Seawoods Estates Limited, the housing society, which had challenged a provision in the 2023 Animal Birth Control Rules, pertaining to the management of stray dogs. During the proceedings, Verma submitted an application claiming her fundamental rights were being violated by the society’s actions, Bar and Bench reported.

Verma had alleged that the society’s managing committee had barred a domestic worker from entering her home for feeding stray dogs. The High Court ruled that the society’s actions violated Verma’s fundamental rights by denying entry to her domestic worker solely for feeding the dogs, The Indian Express reported.

Following the court’s order, Vineeta Srinandan, the cultural director of the housing society at the time, sent a letter to 1,500 flats in the complex, alleging judicial bias.

“Now we are convinced that there is a big dog mafia operating in the country, who has a list of High Court and Supreme Court judges having views similar to the dog feeders,” Bar and Bench quoted the letter as having said.

“No matter how many people are dying or attacked in the country every year, but most of the High Court/Supreme Court orders will defend dog feeders ignoring the value of human life,” the letter added.

It also alleged that the High Court “made fun of” and “outrightly rejected” a video that purportedly showed a dog attacking a girl in the housing society.

Following this, in February, the High Court issued a show-cause notice to Srinandan asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against her.

A bench of Justices Girish S Kulkarni and Advait M Sethna held her letter to be “brazen and derogatory” adding that the comments “lowers dignity of the court and also interferes in administration of justice”.

The court also directed the housing society’s managing committee to pass a resolution expressing regret and remorse over Srinandan’s conduct and the tone of her letter, The Indian Express reported.

In response, the housing society claimed the letter was never approved by its board of directors and distanced itself from Srinandan’s actions.

The court dropped the proceedings against the housing society, Bar and Bench reported.

Srinandan also filed an affidavit saying that she regretted her letter and claimed that she acted under pressure from other residents.

However, on Wednesday, the High Court ruled that her comments showed a clear disregard for the court, highlighting that describing the court as “dog mafia” was inappropriate.

“We do not accept any apology, which does not show any contrition or any genuine remorse,” the court said. “Such apology in our opinion, is merely a weapon in defence with an impression that the contemnor can get away by such recitals.”

However, following a request from Srinandan’s lawyer, the High Court suspended the sentence for 10 days to allow her time to file an appeal.

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