The Supreme Court, on Thursday, April 24, while hearing on stray dog attack petitions, asked the counsels representing various states to investigate the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023.
The apex court said if the issue is resolved through animal birth control, the authorities can be asked to examine the issues as per the rules. If any further grievance arises, the parties may approach the concerned High Courts, the Supreme Court suggested.
The petitions heard by the bench comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol also made it clear that they were not shying away from adjudicating the present issue.
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“We are shying away from dealing of the issue but we will not allow the scope to be expanded. To put it very neatly, it is a very meaty matter for any bench to decide but we will not allow that.”
Five impugned judgments from Bombay, Kerala, Karnataka, and the Himachal Pradesh High Court are before the Top Court. The Kerela High Court, in 2015, upheld the ABC Rules and held that Municipal Laws for destructing stray dogs should comply with ABC rules. Unbridled discretionary powers cannot be granted to the municipal authorities for killing stray dogs. On the other hand, the Bombay, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh High Courts held that the local authorities have discretionary powers to kill stray dogs and are not subject to the ABC Rules.
On March 7, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, in its application, had told the high court that there are large numbers of dog bite incidents reported across the state, especially against children.
The commission mentioned that 5,794 stray dog attacks were reported in 2019, 3951 cases in 2020, 7927 cases in 2021, 11776 cases were reported in 2022 and 6276 cases were reported up to June 19, 2023.
Challenging the Bombay High Court's judgment, the Animal Welfare Board preferred an appeal before the Top Court. It is the petitioner's stance that municipal laws, such as the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, have conferred the local commissioners of the cities with unchecked authority to destroy stray dogs if they believe that a dog is a source of nuisance.