The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, barring West Bengal and Telangana, for not filing compliance affidavits regarding the enforcement of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, in the stray dogs matter.
A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice N.V. Anjaria strongly disapproved after observing that West Bengal, Telangana and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi alone had filed their affidavits, though clear directions were issued on August 22.
The court has instructed the Chief Secretaries of all defaulting Union Territories and States to personally appear before it on November 3 to explain the delay. The court also noted that not a single defaulting State was present during the hearing.
Court pulls up states for ignoring orders
Posing concern over successive occurrences of stray dogs, Justice Vikram Nath said the issue had been widely covered and that the authorities could not feign ignorance.
"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.
Referring to Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave, the Bench also wanted to know why the Government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi had not also filed its affidavit.
Justice Nath said, “Why NCT has not filed 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/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 auditorium.”
Background of the case
The case follows the suo motu proceedings of the Supreme Court entitled " In Re: City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pray The Price,” which was instituted on July 28, following a Times of India news report titled, “In a city hounded by strays, kids pay price,” based on the increasing dog-bite cases.
On August 11, a two-judge Bench presided over by Justice J.B. Pardiwala ordered the Delhi government and civic organisations to shift stray dogs to shelters and ban their release. But the order later on August 22 was suspended by a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath, which called the ban "too harsh."
On August 22, the Bench explained that sterilised, dewormed, and vaccinated dogs must be rehabilitated into the same area of residence, barring those infected or suspected to be infected with rabies or having aggressive dispositions. It also prohibited feeding strays by the public in places other than shelters and stretched the case to all States and Union Territories, calling for compliance across the country with ABC Rules.
