NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued an order demanding the personal presence of Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories on November 3, after learning that several governments have not yet filed a compliance affidavit regarding the stray dogs matter.
The top court exempted the state governments of Telangana and West Bengal, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, as they all furnished a detailed status report.
The three-judge bench of the top court, headed by Justice Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria, warned that if the concerned officers are not present on the next date of hearing, coercive steps will be taken against them.
During the course of the hearing on Monday, the SC was surprised to see that various states gave failed to filed compliance affidavit.
"Didn't the officers read newspapers or social media? Haven't they read, even if they are not served they should have been here. All Chief Secretaries to be present here on November 3 ... We will hold court in auditorium," commented the bench.
The apex court remarked that the problem of stray dogs has not yet been addressed despite orders, as many incidents have been reported since then.
The apex court had on August 22 expanded the scope of the stray dogs case beyond the confines of Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) and directed that all states and Union Territories be made parties in the matter.
The SC had also its August 11 order and directed that the stray dogs will be released back to the same area, but after proper sterilisation and immunisation, except those infected with rabies or exhibiting aggressive behaviour.
Earlier on August 22, the top court said, "Feeding of stray dogs at public places is prohibited and appropriate action would be taken against person for doing so. Unregulated feeding not allowed as it creates problems to common man."
Stressing the need for better facilities to address complaints against violations in this regard, the top court said that NGOs will be paid Rs 25,000 each for the creation of such facilities. No further pleadings by them is allowed, the bench added in its order.
In this particular case, the court said that it proposed to expand the scope to all States and UTs, by involving Animal Husbandry departments and Municipal Authorities.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and other lawyers appearing for the petitioner NGOs and others, had moved the apex court and sought a direction for staying the August 11 order, saying there was not enough shelter homes to house stray dogs.
Sibal had argued that there are the ABC (Animal Birth Control) rules in this regard.
Questioning the August 11 order, he had said, "What have they (MCD) been doing over the years? Have they built shelter homes? Since they have not sterilised, dog numbers increased. Since they have no owners, the community is taking care of them."
Sibal had also remarked, "Where are the shelters? Where are the pounds? They will be culled. So the August 11 order should be stayed on an interim basis."
Abishel Manu Singhvi, senior lawyer for one of the petitioners, also had agreed on the contentions of Sibal and said the apex court's order ignored previous directions against en masse picking up stray dogs.
The lawyer, Nanita Sharma, for an NGO, had mentioned the matter before the bench of the top court, led by the CJI B R Gavai, that two benches of the apex court had earlier passed different and conflicting orders on the stray dogs issue and thereby this court should hear the matter and clarify the confusion.
The court also had ordered that animal lovers and NGOs petitioning the court must deposit Rs 25,000 and Rs 2 lakh, respectively, which will be used to improve infrastructure and facilities for stray dogs.
"Citizens can apply to municipal bodies to adopt stray dogs, which will then be tagged and monitored. Adopted dogs must not be returned to the streets," the top court had added.
The municipal authorities are required to file affidavits detailing compliance with ABC rules, including available resources like dog-catching personnel, cages, and shelters, the SC had said.
"Municipal authorities must maintain records of stray dogs captured, housed, sterilised, and released, and report progress regularly to the Court," it added.
The top court had observed during its August 14 hearing that the government did nothing. "Local authorities are not doing what they should be doing. They should be here taking responsibility. Everyone who has come here to file intervention should take responsibility," said the bench of the apex court.
The Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, senior law officer appearing for the Delhi govt, had earlier in the hearing on August 14, presented a data to the court by citing that around 37 lakh dog bites happened every year, so it roughly amounts to an average of about 10,000 dog bites every day. He also submitted that 20,000 deaths due to rabies were reported every year, as per WHO statistics.
Mehta also had highlighted that the children were unable to play outside due to the stray dogs. On the issue of immunisation of dogs, he submitted that even if the dogs are immunised, that won't stop them from mutilating children. He pointed out and described that nobody is demanding to kill dogs, only to separate groups of strays for the safety of people.
