The Chief Justice of India said that he would look into the issue of stray dogs when a petition seeking regular sterilisation and vaccination of the animals was mentioned before his court on Wednesday.
However, it was not immediately clear if the Chief Justice was referring to the 2024 petition or the recent Supreme Court judgment that has triggered a backlash from animal welfare activists and NGOs.
On Wednesday, a 2024 petition was mentioned before the CJI's court that claimed civic authorities in Delhi were not taking up regular sterilisation, leading to dog bite cases. A notice was issued in the case in July 2024.
To this, CJI BR Gavai said an order had already been passed on the issue, referring to the recent judgment where the Supreme Court directed civic bodies to round up all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR within eight weeks and send them to shelters.
The Chief Justice said he would look into it, but the Supreme Court has not listed it for hearing yet.
On Monday, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said the stray dog menace in Delhi-NCR was "grim" and "immediate steps need to be taken".
The court's order came after it took suo motu cognisance of reports of dog bites leading to rabies.
"You will have to launch a drive with some force, you will have to round up all the stray dogs, whether sterilised or not sterilised... society should be free from stray dogs," the court said.
However, the court's order has riled animal lovers, who have slammed the ruling as "inhumane" and underscored that it went against the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.
The ABC rules mandate that sterilised and vaccinated stray dogs cannot be permanently relocated and have to be released to their original location.
The order has sparked a massive debate on social media as well as protests by animal activists. On Tuesday, a group of 40-50 protesters were detained in Delhi while protesting near the India Gate.
