Dog census row: DoE files police complaint against ‘false info’

The controversy stems from a November 20 DoE order issued to comply with a Supreme Court directive titled “City hounded by strays, kids pay price.” The court had called for appointing nodal officers in sensitive public areas to manage stray dog concerns. The DoE order subsequently directed school heads to undertake related measures at their premises.

The Delhi government on Thursday filed a police complaint alleging a malicious social media campaign falsely claiming it ordered school teachers to count stray dogs, calling the narrative fabricated and intended to cause panic.

No first information report has been registered till the time of going to print, officials familiar with the matter said. (Hindustan Times)

In a complaint to the Civil Lines police station, a copy of which HT has accessed, the Delhi government’s Department of Education (DoE) stated that the “false, misleading and malicious information” was circulated.

The information was shared with the intent to cause “confusion and panic among teachers and school staff, damage to the reputation of the education department and disruption of public order and trust in government institutions”, it added.

No first information report has been registered till the time of going to print, officials familiar with the matter said.

The controversy stems from a November 20 DoE order issued to comply with a Supreme Court directive titled “City hounded by strays, kids pay price.” The court had called for appointing nodal officers in sensitive public areas to manage stray dog concerns. The DoE order subsequently directed school heads to undertake related measures at their premises.

DoE director Veditha Reddy firmly refuted the claims about teachers being appointed to count stray dogs. “It is completely false, fabricated, and baseless,” she stated on Thursday. “No such order, instruction, circular, or policy decision has ever been issued by the DoE.”

On November 29, Delhi education minister Ashish Sood issued a clarification video on social media platform X, and held a press conference the next day to reject the claims outright. The government had initially dismissed the reports as “misinformation” three days prior to filing the formal complaint.