New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai has said that he will look into the “ongoing contentions” about how to handle stray dogs in Delhi. This comes after an attorney said that two distinct Supreme Court benches had given contradicting orders on the topic.
A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan ordered all civic bodies in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) to round up all stray dogs within eight weeks and house them in dedicated shelters. This was in response to a suo motu petition about the “alarming and disturbing” rise in stray dog attacks. This bench made it clear that no animal that has been caught should be let go back onto the streets. It also said that shelters should be built for at least 5,000 dogs and that people should be able to call a number to report dog bites. The court said that the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which say that sterilized dogs must be returned to their original homes, were “unreasonable and absurd.”
An lawyer brought to the CJI’s attention on Wednesday that this new order goes against what the Supreme Court has said in the past. The lawyer mentioned a 2014 ruling that made it illegal to kill stray dogs without reason and a more recent order from Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol on May 9, 2024, that put an end to a long-running group of petitions on the issue. This 2024 ruling repeated that “under all circumstances, there cannot be any indiscriminate killings of canines” and that officials must operate in the “mandate and spirit” of the law, putting compassion for all living things at the top of the list of fundamental values.
CJI Gavai said, “But the other bench has already passed orders,” accepting the August 11 order. He then promised, “I will look into this.”
The fight brings up a big legal and practical issue. The August 11 order wants to keep the public safe by getting all stray dogs off the streets. The earlier decisions and the ABC Rules, 2023, say that a more humane way to deal with the problem is to sterilize and vaccinate the animals instead of transferring them all at once. People who care about public safety have supported the current order, but animal rights groups, celebrities, and legal experts have strongly opposed it, calling it “inhumane,” “impractical,” and a violation of existing standards.