On Monday, the Supreme Court showed a lot of dissatisfaction about the fact that government employees were feeding stray dogs contrary to its previous orders that limited it to specific points. The court that has been overseeing the increasing cases of stray dogs bites nationwide stated that such moves by the officials are contradictory to its directives, and are part of the issues of public safety.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria stated that it will be giving directions to the government institutions and other public sector undertakings in which employees are feeding and encouraging stray dogs in the area. The court stressed that the government workers should lead by example by closely adhering to court requirements rather than ignoring them.
The observation of the Supreme Court was made when chief secretaries of every state and union territory, with an exception of West Bengal, Telangana and Kerala, were in the court. They were required to attend in compliance with the order issued by the Court on October 27 which ordered them to appear after failing to comply with prior orders regarding the management of stray dogs. The principal secretary of Kerala was present as the representative of the chief secretary because he requested exemption.
The bench added that even after being given three months, the majority of states had not reported on the enforcement of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules. The state of West Bengal, Telangana and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were the only states to give updates. The ABC Rules stipulate that to manage the level of stray dogs in the locality, local bodies should sterilize and inoculate stray dogs using the catch-neuter-vaccinate-release theory.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, acting on behalf of Madhya Pradesh told the bench that all the states and the union territories have already responded after the order of October 27.
More orders are expected on Friday by the Supreme Court. The bench reiterated that though there has been prior interventions, the number of dog-bites incidents has been on the increase which has brought disgrace to the country and it may represent a notification that tougher actions could take place.
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