The Dog Dilemma: Supreme Court And Its 2 Conflicting Judgments

The Supreme Court's stray dog ban order has raised a major dilemma, with a lawyer pointing out to the Chief Justice of India this morning two contradicting judgments by the top court on dealing with the stray dog menace on the streets of Delhi.

The top court had Monday ordered relocating all stray dogs from residential areas to animal shelters in view of rising dog bites and rabies cases. But judgment drew mixed reactions, with Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) welcoming the order, but animal lovers doubting the fund availability for such a shifting exercise.

The matter was brought up again this morning, and Chief Justice BR Gavai was apprised of a previous court order that barred the relocation and killing of stray dogs.

Chief Justice Gavai has assured a relook at the matter.

There are two contradicting judgments by two different benches of the top court - one that directs the implementation of rules (for birth control of dogs) and another saying forget all rules (and relocate the dogs), a counsel pointed out to the CJI.

The question is which verdict will now apply in Delhi.

'Forget All Rules'

One of them is the latest order by a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, which called on authorities to round up all stray dogs and send them to a dog shelter to ensure a dog-free locality in Delhi-NCR, without caring about any sentiments or rules.

"We are not doing this for us. It is for the public interest. So, no sentiments of any nature should be involved. Pick up dogs from all localities and shift them to shelters. For the time being, forget the rules," Justice Pardiwala said on Monday, making it clear that no petitions by dog lovers would be heard.

The Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, are a set of guidelines issued by the centre to manage the stray dog population, address human-dog conflicts, and promote animal welfare. Under the rules, stray dogs are picked up from a locality, sterilised, and sent back to the same locality. The latest order called this rule "absurd" and ordered all dogs to be relocated.

'Implement Rules'

The other order was passed by a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and JK Maheshwari back in 2024. It directed authorities to implement existing laws to include the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules and underscored that compassion was an enshrined Constitutional value.

"We only hasten to add, that under all circumstances, there cannot be any indiscriminate killings of canines and the authorities have to take action in terms of the mandate and spirit of the prevalent legislation(s) in place. There is no gainsaying in the fact that exhibiting compassion to all living beings, is the enshrined Constitutional value and mandate, and casts obligation on the authorities to maintain," the order said.

Where Are The Rules?

The counsel for petitioner Nanita Sharma, who took up the matter with the Chief Justice this morning, had earlier filed a petition over lags in the implementation of the ABC rules and sterilisation drives in Delhi. If the rules were implemented efficiently, this would not have been the situation, the counsel argued.

The public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court in 2018 seeking directions to the authorities to carry out regular sterilizations and vaccination of the strays under the ABC rules to prevent them from getting rabies.

The plea was disposed by the high court in August 2023 without any specific directions, following which the petitioner had moved to the Supreme Court. A bench comprising Justices Gavai and KV Vishwanathan had on July 8, 2024 issued a notice in the case.

Justice Gavai's bench had passed a direction on September 17, 2024, giving four weeks' time to Delhi authorities to file their counter affidavits and to list it thereafter, but it has not been listed so far, the counsel pointed out.