New Delhi [India], December 18 : The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to intervene immediately against rules framed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) relating to stray dogs, observing that it would "play a video" at the next hearing to test competing claims concerning humane treatment.
As senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared in the stray dogs case, said that "inhuman" treatment was being meted out to them, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said, "a video will be played in the next hearing, asking you what is humanity".
The suo motu case on the stray-dog menace, which was scheduled to be listed before a three-judge bench today, was cancelled. Sibal asked the bench to hear the matter on Friday, but the apex court said it would be heard on January 7, 2026.
"The problem is that the MCD, in the meantime, has framed some rules which are completely contrary," Sibal said, adding that authorities don't even have dog shelters.
"It is very very inhuman what is being done," Sibal said.
To this, Justice Mehta, referring to the stray dog menace, replied, "On the next date, we will play a video for your benefit and we will ask you what is humanity". Sibal said they will also play a video to show what was happening.
Sibal, seeking an early hearing, said the authorities will implement the rules in December itself.
"They will be implementing it and they will be removing the dogs. They don't have shelters," he said. Justice Nath posting the matter for January 7 said, "It is alright Mr Sibal. Let them do it, we will consider."
On November 7, a three-judge bench while taking into consideration the "alarming rise of dog bite incidents", ordered all states and Union Territories (UTs) to ensure the removal of all stray dogs from every educational institution, hospital, public sports complexes, bus stands, railway stations, etc.
It stated that all these institutions and places must be properly fenced to prevent the entry of stray dogs.
The stray dogs should not be released at the same location from which they were picked up, the bench ordered. It also said that permitting their return would "frustrate the very purpose" of securing such premises and addressing public safety concerns.
It will be the responsibility of the concerned local government institutions to pick up stray dogs from such institutions/areas, and shift them to designated dog shelters after vaccination and sterilisation in accordance with the Animal Birth Control Rules, the apex court had ordered.
The apex court had taken a suo moto cognisance of the menace of stray dogs across the country. A three-judge bench on August 22 had modified a two-judge bench's August 11 order, which had directed the rounding up of all stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR and prohibited their release from dog shelters.
The August 22 order stated that the stray dogs would be released back to the same area after sterilisation and immunisation, except for dogs that are infected with rabies or exhibit aggressive behaviour.
It had also restricted public feeding of stray dogs and directed the MCD to create dedicated feeding spaces in each municipal ward.
It had further ordered that persons found feeding the dogs in contravention of its direction shall be liable to be proceeded with under the relevant framework.
The apex court had also expanded the scope of the proceedings on menace of stray dogs and impleaded all states and Union Territories as parties to the case. The August 11 order was limited to the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) area only.
The three-judge bench order had come on pleas seeking a stay of its August 11 order of a two-judge bench to remove all stray dogs from the localities in the Delhi-NCR region and put them in shelter homes.
On August 11, the top court ordered that all localities in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Faridabad be made free of stray dogs, with no compromise. Additionally, it made clear that no captured animal would be released back into the streets.
In the detailed order it has clarified that its directive was not driven by "momentary impulse", rather, it came after thorough and careful deliberation, and the concerned authorities have consistently failed for over two decades to address a serious issue that directly impacts public safety effectively.
A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and R Madadev had said that it has decided to take the matter into its hands because of the systematic failure of the authorities over the past two decades to address an issue that strikes at the heart of public safety.
It had said that the directions given by it, as a court which functions for the welfare of the people, are both in the interest of humans as well as dogs and "this is not personal".
It had noted that as per the data available on the website of Press Information Bureau, there were 37,15,713 reported dog bites in the country and in Delhi alone, there were 25,201 dog bites.