New Delhi: The Supreme Court has modified its 11 August order on Delhi-NCR stray dogs, stating that all dogs can be released back in their original territories following sterilisation and immunisation. The only exception will be dogs with rabies or those exhibiting aggressive behaviour.
The decision pronounced Friday by a three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria is a huge win for the animal welfare community, which has been continuously protesting the earlier order that has been publicly debated at length over the past few days.
The apex court has also directed municipal authorities to create or identify designated feeding areas in each ward. It emphasised that unregulated feeding in non-designated spots will not be allowed as it creates problems for the public.
Helplines will also be set up for people to complain about any violation of these directions, the bench said, adding that no individual or organisation can cause any hindrance or obstruction in the discharge of duties by authorities.
The Supreme Court’s 11 August two-judge bench order had directed authorities to round up all the stray dogs in Delhi-NCR and put them in shelters, sparking outrage. Two days later, Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai had referred the matter to the larger bench of Justices Nath, Mehta and Anjaria, while hearing interim pleas seeking a stay on the 11 August ruling. The bench heard the matter next day and reserved its order, and pronounced it Friday.
Taking note of the pleas on the stray dog issue pending before different high courts in the country, the bench led by Justice Nath said the matter has expanded beyond just Delhi and NCR. “We have asked for details of similar matters and have directed them to be transferred to this court so a final decision can be taken with respect to the issue,” it ruled.
The court then proceeded to list the matter after 8 weeks, saying that it will examine how its directions have been complied with. It also directed the municipal corporation to submit a compliance report.
Shortly before the hearing ended, the top court also warned those who have filed intervention applications would have to file affidavits providing evidence to support their claims. It further said that individuals and NGOs who file impleadment applications will have to deposit Rs 25,000 and Rs 2 lakh, respectively, which will be spent on infrastructure for dog shelters. The objective behind this was to avoid any more intervening applications on the issue.
“Parliament has framed rules and laws but these are not being implemented. On the one hand, humans are suffering and on the other, the animal lovers are. Have some responsibility. All those who have filed interventions have to file affidavits and give evidence,” the court said, reserving its order on petitions seeking a stay on the 11 August suo motu order.
Appearing for the Delhi government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had earlier said that there exists a vocal minority of dog lovers and a silent, suffering majority. “Children are dying,” he said, adding that although sterilisation was initially an option, it wasn’t enough to curb the stray dog “menace”.
Pointing to figures outlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Mehta said, most of the victims are the old and children under 15. “36 percent of rabies cases in the world are in India. No one is saying dogs have to be separated, but children are being mutilated,” he said, adding that activism is now at an extreme.
What the petitioners argued
“This is the first time I have heard the Solicitor General of India say that there is a legislation in place, that is the Animal Birth Control Rules, but don’t comply with it,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for NGO Project Kindness, had said at the last hearing before the larger bench.
Underlining that the existing parliamentary legislation needs to be complied with, Sibal said: “What has the MCD done for so many years? They have money for sterilisation but it gets siphoned. Now that the community is feeding them, you are saying take them out and cull them. You can’t pass an order like that,” Sibal said, urging the court to stay its 11 August order.
Sibal had also informed the court then that the 11 August order directed that sterilised and immunised stray dogs cannot be sent back. “Where will they go? This direction has to be stayed. All authorities are to begin picking up stray dogs. This directive has to be stayed, too.”
Dogs, he said, are all the more prone to attacking and injuring one another when they are holed up together in tiny shelters without adequate space. “When there is not enough space, they attack and injure each other, causing pestilence, which can affect human beings too. Let the legislation take care of it. If there are concerns, your Lordship will take care of it.”
The senior advocate added that the authorities concerned do not immunise or sterilise the strays, leading to a situation where they multiply and the government blames the community.
Also appearing for the cause of stray dogs was senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. “With the best of intentions, these directions put the cart before the horse. If there was infrastructure, the situation would be different but we can’t even accommodate them,” he contended.
Underlining that everyone is concerned about the welfare of the elderly, and the young, Singhvi said that the bench will be surprised to know that parliamentary answers from this year have revealed that there have been zero rabies deaths in Delhi this year. “This does not mean that dog bites are not bad, but to create a situation of a dog menace is not correct.”
Instead, the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules can be strictly implemented and the dogs can be sterilised in a humane manner, rather than being picked up overnight, he said.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, meanwhile, said that in Gurugram, the stray dog population has come down by 16 percent through sterilisation. “Even in Nizamuddin East, this number has reduced. Ten years down, Delhi will be rid of stray dogs completely,” he said.
The 11 August order
The order that the petitioners were seeking to stay was passed by a two-judge or division bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan on 11 August, which said immediate steps needed to be taken to tackle the issue of dog bites.
Soon after the order was reported, prominent personalities like Simi Grewal, John Abraham, Vir Das and Zeenat Aman, strongly criticised it. Politicians like Congress MPs Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, BJP ex-MP Maneka Gandhi also condemned the order publicly.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat too had remarked at an event in Cuttack that “all animals have the right to live; the stray dog issue in Delhi can only be resolved by managing their population rather than confining them to shelters”.
Painting the situation as “extremely grim”, the Supreme Court had ruled that immediate steps need be taken to tackle dog bites and rabies cases.
The court had said that its decision was not driven by a momentary impulse, but from a systemic failure to address a problem that lay at the heart of public safety.
All authorities are directed to immediately begin picking up stray dogs and to create “appropriate and adequate shelter homes and pounds across the National Capital Region,” the 19-page ruling said.
“The appropriate authorities of NCT of Delhi, NOIDA, Ghaziabad, Gurugram & Faridabad are directed to immediately create dog shelters/pounds and report to this Court the creation of such infrastructure all over the National Capital Region (NCR),” the court had ruled, saying that a status report must also be filed within eight weeks before it.
The court had also said that any hindrance or obstruction caused by any individual or organisation “in the smooth and effective implementation” of its directions will be viewed as contempt of court, and appropriate action will be taken, in accordance with law.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)