New Delhi, February 19 The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the response of lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai to a plea by TMC MP Mahua Moitra challenging a district court order refusing to grant her joint custody of her pet Rottweiler, named Henry.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri issued a notice to Moitra's former partner on her appeal and asked him to file his response.
Dehadrai said Moitra's case should be dismissed at this stage.
In her appeal to the high court, the TMC leader said that in the interim order passed in November 2025, the district court failed to consider that Henry was given to her as a pet and he usually resided with her at her residence.
She further stated that the district court's order deprived her of the love and affection of a pet she had raised for two years.
"The appellant was a co-parent of Henry. Henry primarily resided at the appellant's residence from where he was admittedly taken by the respondent when he was trespassing," it further alleged.
The district court's interim order came on a lawsuit by Moitra seeking specific performance of an oral agreement between her and Dehadrai for joint custody of the pet dog.
As an interim relief, she sought Henry's custody for 10 days every month.
Moitra told the district court that having taken care of Henry, she developed deep emotions equivalent to being his parent.
On November 10, the district court held that Moitra did not have a prima facie case in her favor for shared custody of Henry for 10 days of every month and refused to pass an interim order in her favor.
The district court said Moitra was not claiming the ownership of the dog and her emphasis on the emotional aspect of "dog ownership" was misplaced as there was no concept of "parent of a dog" in the eyes of the law.
It further said there was no conversation to show that there was any sort of agreement between the parties regarding the shared custody of the dog.
The matter will be heard next in the high court in April.