The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the personal presence of Chief Secretaries of all the states and Union Territories on November 3 who have not filed an affidavit in compliance with the court’s direction on the issue of the stray dog menace in the country. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria noted that only the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, West Bengal and Telangana have filed affidavits and directed that, except for these states, Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories have to be present before the court at 10.30 am along with an explanation as to why compliance affidavits have not been filed.
“Continuous incidents are happening, and the image of the country is being shown as down in the eyes of foreign nations. We are also reading news reports,” Justice Nath said.
Supreme Court on Cruelty Against Dog Vs Cruelty Against Humans
When a counsel referred to the cruelty against dogs, the bench said, “What about the cruelty towards humans?”
The Delhi government has also not filed an affidavit, and its Chief Secretary has also been asked to appear before it. It questioned Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave as to why the Delhi government has not filed a compliance affidavit.
“Why has NCT of Delhi not filed an affidavit? Chief Secretary to come up with explanation… otherwise cost may be imposed and coercive steps will be taken. Notices were issued to all states and UTs… your officers don’t read newspapers or social media?
Everyone has reported this… Once they are aware, they should come forward. All Chief Secretaries to remain present on November 3, else we will hold the court in the auditorium,” said Justice Nath.
Stray Dogs And Supreme Court’s Suo Moto Cognisance
On August 22, the top court had directed the states and UTs to file the compliance affidavits.
The apex court had taken suo moto cognisance of the menace of stray dogs across the country.
On August 22, a three-judge bench modified an August 11 two-judge bench order which had directed the rounding up of all stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR and prohibited their release from dog shelters.
The August 22 order said that now the stray dogs will be released back to the same area after sterilisation and immunisation, except those dogs which are infected with rabies or are exhibiting aggressive behaviour.
It had also restricted public feeding of stray dogs and directed the MCD to creatededicated feeding spaces in each municipal ward.
It further ordered that persons found feeding the dogs in contravention of its direction shall be liable to be proceeded with under the relevant framework.
The apex court had also expanded the scope of the proceedings on the menace of stray dogs and impleaded all states and Union Territories as parties to the case. The August 11 order was limited to the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) area only.
Stray Dogs Free Delhi
The three-judge bench order had come on pleas seeking a stay of the two-judge bench’s August 11 order to remove all stray dogs from the localities in the Delhi-NCR region and put them in shelter homes.
On August 11, the top court ordered that all localities in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad should be made free of stray dogs and there should not be any compromise, and also made it clear that no captured animal will be released back on the streets.
In the detailed order it has clarified that its directive was not driven by “momentary impulse”; rather, it came after thorough and careful deliberation, and the concerned authorities have consistently failed for over two decades to effectively address a serious issue that directly impacts public safety.
A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and R Madadev had said that it has decided to take the matter into its hands because of the systematic failure of the authorities over the past two decades to address an issue that strikes at the heart of public safety.
It had said that the directions given by it, as a court which functions for the welfare of the people, are both in the interest of humans as well as dogs, and “this is not personal”.
It had noted that as per the data available on the website of the Press Information Bureau, there were 3,715,713 reported dog bites in the country, and in Delhi alone, there were 25,201 dog bites.
(With inputs from ANI)
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
