SC refuses to reverse Bombay HC ban on pigeon feeding

A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi noted that proceedings in the matter remain pending before the Bombay High Court, which is expected to take up the case again on August 13

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s orders directing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to prosecute those feeding pigeons at Mumbai’s “kabutarkhanas” – pigeon feeding spots, in defiance of civic directives.

The Bombay High Court had initially stayed the demolition but barred feeding. (PTI file photo)

A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi noted that proceedings in the matter remain pending before the Bombay High Court, which is expected to take up the case again on August 13.

“Parallel indulgence by this Court is not proper. Petitioner can move the High Court for modification of the order,” said the bench, refusing to interfere.

The Bombay High Court, hearing multiple petitions by animal lovers and rights activists challenging the BMC’s demolition of decades-old kabutarkhanas, had initially stayed the demolition but barred feeding. On July 30, after noting continued feeding and obstruction of civic officials, the high court ordered criminal cases under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), calling the acts a “public nuisance likely to spread diseases and endanger human life.”

Earlier, on July 24, the high court had warned that pigeon breeding and large congregations at kabutarkhanas posed a “grave social concern”, stressing the decision was in the “larger interest of societal health, from children to senior citizens.”

In court, BMC presented medical evidence that pigeon droppings and feathers can trigger asthma, hypersensitivity, pneumonitis, and lung fibrosis -- conditions with no cure once advanced. The civic body argued that many victims realise the damage only after irreversible harm to the lungs.

Petitioners in the Supreme Court, including Pallavi Sachin Patil, argued that pigeon feeding is a long-standing religious practice, particularly among Hindu devotees and the Jain community, with some 51 feeding spots in Mumbai operating for decades. They claimed health concerns were overstated and that asthma was more directly linked to pollution from vehicles and open burning. They proposed alternatives such as bird towers to allow human-pigeon coexistence.

The crackdown has sparked street protests. On August 6, hundreds clashed with police at Dadar “kabutarkhana”, tearing down tarpaulin sheets erected to block feeding. Two days earlier, over 1,000 community members protested after the site was barricaded with bamboo poles and covered.