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Supreme Court to announce verdict on stray dogs removal today | Case so far
A three-judge special bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria reserved its order in the matter on August 14.
The Supreme Court is set to pronounce a verdict on Friday on an earlier order, which involved the removal of stray dogs from the Delhi-NCR region. A three-judge special bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria reserved its order in the matter on August 14.
The final verdict is set to be announced today. The initial order, which called for the removal of all stray dogs within eight weeks resulted in widespread protests across the capital region.
Follow LIVE Updates on the SC verdict on stray dogs here
With several detentions made by police in Delhi-NCR, the outrage from the SC order also resulted in an alleged attack against Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta.
With the Supreme Court set to announce its verdict today, here's a look at the case so far.
Supreme Court verdict on stray dogs today: Case so far
- A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court passed a slew of directions on August 11, including ordering the authorities in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) to start picking up stray dogs from all localities "at the earliest" and relocate the canines to dog shelters. The verdict came in a suo motu case initiated on July 28 over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.
- The blanket order, issued by the apex court on August 11, led to widespread protests across the country. Animal rights activists called for more humane solutions, such as vaccination and neutering of strays.
- The order came before the Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, who said he “will look into the matter.” A special three-judge bench was constituted to hear the suo motu case and some other pleas concerning stray dogs, which on August 14, said the "whole problem" of stray dogs in Delhi-NCR was a result of the "inaction" of local authorities which did "nothing" in implementing the Animal Birth Control Rules on sterilisation and immunisation of canines. It reserved its verdict on the interim prayer for a stay on certain directions issued on August 11.
- The August 11 order was termed cruel, unscientific, and potentially ineffective by animal rights activists, with demonstrators and police clashing at India Gate and other major places in Delhi.
- The activists, politicians, and many vets said the judges did not pay enough attention to the fact that the dog population is universally managed by sterilising and vaccinating them.
- One incensed dog lover from Gujarat went as far as to allegedly physically attack Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta at a public hearing earlier this week, saying the BJP government's agreement with the order angered him. The government had said it would abide by the order. Its lawyer had told the SC that “there is a very loud vocal minority (against the capture order) and a silent suffering majority”.
- There were isolated cases of some people trying to free the captured dogs while clashing with government teams that had come to remove them. FIRs have been filed in such cases.
