The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to urgently list a plea challenging a notification issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) regarding the picking up of stray dogs in the national capital.
A bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi declined to accord an immediate hearing despite a lawyer pointing out that an application had been filed in this regard. The application argued that the MCD issued its notification even though the apex court had already reserved orders in the matter.
On August 14, while reserving its order on an interim plea to stay the MCD’s move, the Supreme Court had remarked that the root of the stray dog problem in Delhi-NCR was the “inaction” of local authorities. A three-judge bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria is seized of the matter.
Earlier, on August 11, a two-judge bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan had directed authorities in Delhi-NCR to begin picking up stray dogs “at the earliest” and relocate them to designated dog shelters. The bench further ordered that such shelters be set up immediately and a compliance report be submitted within eight weeks.
The court had also clarified that stray dogs once detained in shelters should not be released back into streets, colonies, or other public spaces.
The directions stemmed from a suo motu case initiated by the top court on July 28 following a spate of incidents of dog bites resulting in rabies, particularly affecting children in Delhi. The court had then issued a series of directions to address the public health concern posed by stray dogs in the city.
