A new three-judge Supreme Court panel will hear the suo motu case on Thursday, following nationwide protests over a top court ruling on the relocation of stray dogs in Delhi-NCR. The case will be heard by a bench made up of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria.
On August 11, a court made up of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan issued orders to permanently move all strays from the streets to shelters “as soon as possible.” He stated he “will look into it” after other petitioners in a different case involving stray dogs brought up their plea in reference to the Chief Justice of India B R Gavai’s August 11 ruling.
A panel of Justices Pardiwala and Mahadevan declared on August 11 that dog bite incidents had created a “very grim” scenario and mandated that all strays in Delhi-NCR be permanently relocated “as soon as possible.” The attorney cited a May 2024 ruling by a panel headed by Justice J K Maheshwari that sent cases about the stray dog issue to the appropriate high courts on Wednesday.
The Animal Birth Control Rules, 2001, which require routine sterilizing and immunization programmes for stray dogs in order to reduce their increasing numbers, are allegedly not being followed, according to the Conference for Human Rights’ appeal. The Supreme Court’s August 11 order further stated that dog shelters must be expanded over time and instructed Delhi officials to begin building shelters for about 5,000 dogs in six to eight weeks.
Additionally, the bench threatened to take severe punishment against a person or organization if they obstructed the relocation effort in any way, which might also lead the court to start contempt proceedings.