BREAKING: Supreme Court Reserves Order On Delhi-NCR Stray Dog Removal After Hearing

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday, August 14, reserved the contentious case on the fate of stray dogs in Delhi-NCR, days after its earlier directive ordering their blanket removal from public spaces sparked street protests, political criticism, and outrage from animal rights groups.

A three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria is now seized of the matter, which was urgently listed after Chief Justice B R Gavai said, “I will look into it,” in response to a mention by an advocate questioning the legality of the removal order.

From Two-Judge Order to Three-Judge Review

On August 11, a bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed authorities to begin rounding up stray dogs “at the earliest” from all NCR localities, starting with 5,000 within six to eight weeks. The order also barred any released strays from returning to streets, colonies or public spaces.

Authorities were told to create dog shelters immediately and report back within eight weeks. The detailed judgment, uploaded Wednesday, recorded that all captured dogs must be “sterilized, dewormed and immunized as required by Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023.”