Supreme Court refers stray dogs case to new three-judge bench; hearing tomorrow

A new three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Vikram Nath will hear the case related to stray dogs.

The Bench will also comprise Justices Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria.

The matter titled In Re: “City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price” was earlier being heard by a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan.

This Bench had also delivered a detailed order on August 11 directing the removal of all stray dogs from streets and public spaces in Delhi, NOIDA, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad, their relocation to shelters, and a complete prohibition on releasing them back.

The Bench had stated that the exercise must be prioritised and carried out without compromise.

Pertinently, Justice Pardiwala Bench on Monday also said that if any individual or organisation creates obstruction to the exercise, the Court will take strict action against them including contempt of court.

The order was passed in a suo motu case initiated by it over umpteen incidents of rabies and deaths from stray dog bites.

The order led to widespread protests by animal rights activists, many of whom took to the streets.

In light of the same, the matter was mentioned today morning by a lawyer who informed the Court that an appeal is already pending against a Delhi High Court judgment concerning stray dogs.

The lawyer also submitted that different benches of the Supreme Court have passed orders on the subject. These include a bench led by Justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol in one matter and the bench of Justices Pardiwala and Mahadevan in the present suo motu proceedings.

The overlapping nature of these matters and the possibility of conflicting directions were brought to the Court’s attention.

Highlighting these two conflicting coordinate bench rulings, she urged the CJI to have the matter listed so the Court can decide whether to resolve the conflict, possibly by referring the issue to a larger bench.

CJI Gavai then assured that he will look into the matter.

The case has now been directed to be listed before a new three-judge Bench.