The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to urgently list a plea challenging the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s notification on picking up stray dogs. The bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi turned down the request for an early hearing after a lawyer mentioned the matter.
The application argued that MCD issued the notification despite the apex court having reserved its order earlier. On August 14, while reserving its order on an interim prayer seeking a stay, the court had remarked that the stray dog crisis in Delhi-NCR was largely due to the “inaction” of local authorities.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria had reserved its decision in the matter. Earlier, on August 11, another bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed Delhi-NCR authorities to start picking up stray dogs “at the earliest” and relocate them to shelters.
The court had also ordered the immediate creation of dog shelters and directed authorities to report progress within eight weeks. It further stated that once picked up, the dogs must remain in shelters and not be released on streets, colonies, or public spaces.
The apex court had passed these directions while hearing a suo motu case initiated on July 28 following a rise in rabies cases, particularly among children, due to stray dog bites in the national capital.
