The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed displeasure over former minister Maneka Gandhi's criticism of the apex court orders in the stray dog case, saying she committed contempt.
Former minister has made "all kinds of comments" against everyone without even thinking, said a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria
The court said it was not initiating contempt against Maneka Gandhi due to its magnanimity.
Questioning senior advocate Raju Ramachandran who appeared for Gandhi, the bench said, "You said the court should be circumspect in its remark but have you asked your client what kind of remarks she has made? Have you heard her podcast? She has made all kinds of remarks against everybody without even thinking. Have you seen her body language?"
However, the apex court said that it was not initiating contempt against Maneka Gandhi due to its magnanimity.
The Supreme Court also questioned Maneka Gandhi on what budgetary allocation she has helped in getting for solving the problem of stray dogs
Ramachandran replied that he has appeared even on behalf of terrorist Ajmal Kasab and budgetary allocation is a policy matter.
"Ajmal Kasab did not commit contempt of court but your client has," Justice Nath remarked.
The hearing in the case is still underway.
The Supreme Court on January 13 said it will ask states to pay a "heavy compensation" for dog-bite incidents and hold dog feeders accountable as it flagged its concern over the lack of implementation of norms on stray animals for the past five years.
On January 4, Supreme Court heard a batch of petitions related to the stray dog issue. The court examined competing claims from petitioners representing victims of dog attacks, animal welfare organisations, and authorities.
During the proceedings, the Bench reportedly questioned why arguments were focused solely on dogs, asking, “What about other animal lives? What about chickens and goats? Don’t they have lives?”
The matter has been under national scrutiny since last year, when a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed Delhi’s municipal authorities to round up and shelter stray dogs. That order had triggered widespread protests from animal rights groups, who warned against indiscriminate removal of strays.
(With inputs from PTI)