The Supreme Court will announce an important decision on Friday in which the disputed order has been challenged to hold all stray dogs from Delhi and four districts (Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad). This order was issued on 8 August and now the question is whether it will be stopped, revised or will be applicable.

Decision will be heard of three judges
A bench of three judges headed by Justice Vikram Nath (along with Justice Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjariya) will decide whether the order is completely banned or changes or retained.

August 8 order and its expansion
On August 8, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan ordered that all stray dogs be caught and kept in permanent shelters in eight weeks and should not be released on the streets again. Later in written order it was extended to Faridabad. Also, a 5,000 capacity shelter was instructed to build in eight weeks.

Dispute and objection
Controversy immediately arose over this order. Many NGOs and animal welfare groups said that it is against the ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act’ and ‘Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules’. According to these rules, dogs have to be sterilized and vaccinated and left back to the same area, not to close in shelters on a large scale.

Chief Justice changed benches
After the criticism and in view of the new petitions, Chief Justice BR Gavai withdrew the case from the Pardiwala bench and handed over to a large bench of three judges (under the leadership of Justice Nath). The bench held a long hearing on August 14 and reserved the verdict, which will now be pronounced on Friday.

Court displeasure at hearing
During the hearing, the big bench reprimanded the Delhi government and the municipal corporations that they are not implementing their own rules. The court said that both the safety and animal welfare of humans are being affected. The court asked the Delhi government whether it would follow the law or not.

Arguments of government and opposition parties
Giving examples of attacks on children and deaths from dog bytes, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that immediate intervention is necessary. He said that dogs do not have to kill, but it is necessary to separate, sterilize and treat. At the same time, many senior lawyers including Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Siddharth Luthra said on behalf of the NGOs that this order is illegal and invalid. He showed his statistics of the government that there was no death due to the recent dog byte in Delhi, which exposes the baselessness of the order.

Animal welfare conditions in order
In the written order issued on 11 August, the shelter should not have cruelty with dogs, should not be hungry, congestion should be avoided, weak dogs should be kept away and veterinary-related conditions were also added. Also, adoption was allowed to adopt with the approval of the Animal Welfare Board, but there was a direction of “strict action” on leaving the adopted dogs on the road.

Why the matter started
The whole matter arose when a six -year -old girl died of rabies after a dog bites. The Pardiwala bench had said that the incidents of dog byte are showing “worrying patterns” and local bodies have failed to ensure safety of public places.