New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, October 27, summoned all state governments and Union Territories to appear before it on November 3, expressing its anger over their failure to demonstrate compliance with its August 22 order related to the ABC or Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2023.

The exceptions to this summons are the West Bengal and Telangana state governments and the Union Territory of Delhi, whose affidavits were filed during the court's Diwali break.

A three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N.V. Anjaria heard the matter and set the next date on November 3. "Two months granted... yet no response!" the Hindu reported Justice Nath as saying on Monday. The court then asked chief secretaries of all state governments to be present on November 3 in court to "explain the delay".

Dogs bite unchecked, country suffers

Alluding to the incidents of unchecked stray dog bites across the country, the court said India's reputation is being hurt internationally by state governments not taking action against the stray dog menace.

"Continuous incidents are happening and the image of the country is being shown as down in the eyes of foreign nations. We are also reading news reports," Justice Nath said, Live Law reported.

The ABC Rules require all governments to catch, neuter, then release back into their neighbourhoods all strays. The court has been monitoring the official response to the stray dog menace across the country since August.

The August 22 order was, in fact, a kind of reprieve to state governments. By enforcing the ABC rules, the court had overturned a previous ruling of another bench that had imposed far stricter conditions in a bid to prevent dog bites.

On August 11, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court had ordered that authorities in Delhi and its neighbourhood (Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad were included) to pick up strays and relocate them to shelters and not release them thereafter.

In less than two weeks, a three-judge bench, set up amid outrage among dog lovers and animal care experts, had stayed that order as "too harsh". The court also clarified that after being neutered, the stray dogs would be restored to their original neighbourhoods.

However, the August 22 order gave the case a pan-India remit, and the court had asked all governments across the country to comply with it, not just Delhi. However, state governments may be taking action as per the rules and the Supreme Court order, but they have almost all failed to update the court on action taken.

Delhi asked to explain semi-compliance

In the case of Delhi, the court noted, it is not the government that has filed an affidavit reporting compliance, but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which has provided information but reportedly not on affidavit. This is significant as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) runs the government in Delhi and its leaders such as Vijay Goyal had led and participated in marches and protests against the "stray dog menace" here earlier this year, demanding the dogs be removed from streets permanently and dog bite victims be compensated.

At the same time, the party's leaders such as Maneka Gandhi, a well-known animal rights activist, had clarified that the August 11 order to completely remove stray dogs from the streets would be hard to implement, the Hindustan Times had reported.

The judge also specifically asked Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave why the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi had not filed a compliance affidavit: "Why NCT has not filed affidavit? Chief Secretary to come up with explanation... otherwise cost may be imposed and coercive steps will be taken... notices were issued to all states/UTs... your officers don't read newspapers or social media? Everyone has reported this... Once they are aware, they should come forward! All Chief Secretaries to remain present on November 3, else we will hold the court in auditorium," Justice Nath said, according to a report published in Live Law.

As per the current order of the court, only infected and sick dogs are to be retained at shelters, while the others have to be neutered and released, based on the understanding that this would be adequate to control dog populations and prevent them from biting people. Dogs that need basic medical attention, such as de-worming, are not to be kept at shelters beyond such care.

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