Clear roads of stray animals or face action, Supreme Court raps States

Flagging non-compliances of rules and directions by civic bodies, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that people were dying not only due to dog bites alone in the country but also because of accidents caused by stray animals on roads.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria, which was hearing pleas for modification of its earlier orders filed by dog lovers and those seeking stringent compliance of orders, said it is conducting the hearing as many lawyers and animal activists claimed that they were not heard before passing of the order on November 7.

“The roads should be clear of dogs and stray animals. It is not only the dog bites but also the roaming of stray animals on roads that are proving dangerous and causing accidents. No one knows which dog is in what mood in the morning. Civic bodies have to implement the rules, modules and directions strictly,” the bench said.

Justice Mehta pointed out that two Rajasthan HC judges have suffered accidents in the last 20 days and one of the judges is still suffering from spinal injuries. “It’s a serious issue,” he told lawyers appearing in the matter.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner seeking modification of the earlier order of the court in the matter, said that the solution is not to capture all dogs but to adopt a scientific formula, accepted worldwide for reducing animal-human conflict.

He submitted that the court can



adopt the formula of CSVR (Capture, Sterilise, Vaccinate and Release) for managing and controlling the population of stray dogs which will gradually reduce the dog bite incidents.

“Prevention is always better than cure,” Justice Nath said and pointed out that there was nothing much to argue in the matter as the court is only directed to remove the stray dogs from institutional areas and has not interfered with any rules and regulations.

The bench said what it is trying in the matter is the strict enforcement of rules, regulations, modules and standard operating procedures (SOPs) by States and civic bodies.

“Some States have not responded to compliance with our orders and implementation of the arguments. We will be very harsh with those States. All the rules, regulations and SOPs need to be followed,” the top court said.

When some counsels, appearing for different parties, submitted that dog attacks are happening, the bench said that it understands that children and adults are being bitten and losing their lives.

At the outset, senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, who has been appointed as amicus curiae in the matter, said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has prepared an SOP to implement the court order.

“They have identified 1,400 km of road as a vulnerable stretch. However, after detection, the NHAI says that the state governments have to take care of it,” Agarwal said.