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A three-judge special bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjania noted that the Chief Secretaries of the states and union territories were present in court.
Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court heard the stray dog case on Monday. The Chief Secretaries of all states and union territories, except those of West Bengal and Telangana, were present. The court stated that it would deliver its decision on the matter on November 7.
A three-judge special bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjania noted that the Chief Secretaries of the states and union territories were present in court. However, the Principal Secretary of Kerala appeared in place of the Chief Secretary, allowing the application. The bench asked the lawyer representing Andhra Pradesh why a compliance affidavit had not been filed on the previous hearing date.
The court also directed that the Animal Welfare Board be made a party in the case. Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that most states had filed their compliance affidavits. Subsequently, the Supreme Court stated that it would deliver its verdict on November 7th and ordered that the Chief Secretaries' physical appearance on that date would not be mandatory. However, the Court also clarified that if there were any shortcomings in compliance with its order, it could summon the Chief Secretaries again.
In the previous hearing, the Court had ordered the Chief Secretaries' physical appearance.
In an earlier hearing on October 27th, the Supreme Court had directed the Chief Secretaries of the states and union territories to appear in person on November 3rd to explain why compliance affidavits had not been filed despite the August 22nd order. At that time, the Court expressed displeasure over the non-compliance of the orders and noted that no state or union territory had filed compliance affidavits by October 27th, except for West Bengal, Telangana, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
On August 22, the Supreme Court had asked the states and union territories what steps they were taking to ensure compliance with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules.
