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

New Delhi: After widespread protests across the country following a top court verdict on relocation of stray dogs in Delhi-NCR, a new three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear the suo motu case on Thursday.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria will hear the matter.

The directions to permanently relocate all strays from streets to shelters "at the earliest" were passed by a bench comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan on August 11.

When some petitioners in another stray dogs-related case mentioned their plea while referring to the August 11 verdict before the Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, he said he "will look into it".

On August 11, a bench of Justices Pardiwala and Mahadevan observed instances of dog bites had given rise to an "extremely grim" situation and ordered the permanent relocation of all strays in Delhi-NCR "at the earliest".

On Wednesday, the lawyer referred to a May 2024 order passed by a bench led by Justice J K Maheshwari relegating petitions relating to the stray dog issue to respective high courts.

The plea by Conference for Human Rights (India) claims the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2001 mandating regular sterilisation and immunisation programmes for stray dogs to curtail their growing population are not being complied with.

In its August 11 ruling, the apex court also said dog shelters will have to be augmented over time and directed Delhi authorities to start with creating shelters of around 5,000 canines within six to eight weeks.

Besides, the bench warned of strict action against an individual or organisation in case of any kind of obstruction in the relocation drive that might also prompt the court to initiate contempt proceedings.