New Delhi : In a sharp rebuke to States and Union Territories for their inaction on the stray dog menace, the Supreme Court on Monday summoned the Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs, except West Bengal and Telangana, for failing to file compliance affidavits on the steps taken to implement the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.
Hearing a suo motu case titled ‘In Re: City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay The Price’, a bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria expressed strong displeasure over the non-compliance, observing that incidents of stray dog attacks were “showing the country in a bad light before foreign nations”. “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 remarked.
The bench noted that only West Bengal, Telangana and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi had filed their affidavits, and even those were not on record. Directing the Chief Secretaries of the defaulting States and UTs to personally appear before it next Monday at 10:30 a.m., the court warned that costs and coercive measures would follow in case of non-compliance. “Why has NCT not filed its affidavit? Chief Secretary to come up with an 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,” Justice Nath said, addressing Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave.
On August 22, the court directed all States and UTs to submit compliance affidavits under the ABC Rules. However, on Monday it found that not only had the majority failed to comply, but there was also no representation on their behalf in court. The case stems from a suo motu action initiated on July 28 by a bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan, following a Times of India report titled ‘In a City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price’.
On August 11, the Pardiwala-led bench had directed Delhi authorities to relocate stray dogs to shelters and barred their release, extending similar directions to Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad. It had further warned of legal consequences against those obstructing authorities from picking up strays.However, after concerns were raised that those directions conflicted with earlier court orders, the matter was transferred to a three-judge bench led by Justice Vikram Nath.
On August 22, the Nath bench stayed the August 11 order, calling the ban on the release of treated and vaccinated dogs “too harsh”. It clarified that, in line with Rule 11(9) of the ABC Rules, dogs must be released back into the same area after sterilisation, deworming and vaccination, except those infected with rabies, suspected of infection, or exhibiting aggressive behaviour.
The court also prohibited public feeding of stray dogs, ordered the creation of designated feeding zones, and expanded the scope of the case to a pan-India level. It impelled all States, UTs, and local bodies to ensure uniform enforcement of the ABC Rules and hinted at formulating a national policy by transferring similar petitions pending in High Courts. During Monday’s hearing, when Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra informed the bench that guidelines from Jammu & Kashmir and the NCT of Delhi were available, Justice Nath insisted that “the authorities must come and present them.” Reiterating its seriousness, the bench made it clear that unless all Chief Secretaries appeared on November 3, the court would “hold proceedings in an auditorium” to ensure accountability.
