Supreme Court to review plea on stray dogs after ‘urgent hearing’ request
PTC Web Desk: The Supreme Court will review a fresh plea concerning the stray dog problem in India after it was mentioned for an urgent hearing on Wednesday.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, along with Justice K Vinod Chandran, heard the request made by a lawyer on behalf of the Conference for Human Rights (India). The plea claims that the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2001, which require regular sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs to control their population, are not being followed.
CJI Gavai noted that another Bench of the court has already passed orders on the matter. On August 11, a Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan described the situation of dog bite cases as “extremely grim” and ordered that all stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR region should be permanently relocated as soon as possible.
The same Bench also directed Delhi authorities to start creating shelters for at least 5,000 stray dogs within six to eight weeks. The court further warned that anyone trying to block this relocation drive could face strict action, including contempt of court proceedings.
The lawyer also reminded the court about a May 2024 order from another Bench, led by Justice JK Maheshwari, which had directed all stray dog-related cases to be handled by their respective high courts. In response, the CJI assured that he would examine the matter.
- With inputs from agencies
