New Delhi [India], August 13 : Animal rights activist and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday welcomed the Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai's decision to examine the ongoing issue related to relocation of stray dogs and urged him to hear all sides and make a decision in accordance with the law.
Her remarks followed the Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai's statement that he would examine the ongoing issue of dog relocation, after an advocate raised the matter, noting that different Supreme Court benches had issued conflicting directions.
Speaking to ANI, Maneka Gandhi criticised Justice JB Pardiwala's ruling that ordered the Delhi-NCR municipal authorities to start removing stray dogs from all localities within eight weeks and house them in dedicated dog shelters to be set up by civic authorities.
"We are very hopeful. The order was so bad, and there has been a lot of chaos over it for the past two days...I don't think Justice Pardiwala would have thought that the media would work intelligently; he must have thought that his word was the last word. But the media questioned it...The order was rubbish, and everyone knew that it could not be done. So, if CJI has said now that this needs to be examined, I would like to urge him to hear all sides and make a decision in view of the law," Gandhi stated.
The BJP leader further stated that while she understands the concerns of people who want stray dogs removed from their areas due to the risk of bites, but simply removing the animals from the streets would not solve the problem.
She urged the Chief Justice of India to review the decision with a focus on finding a solution that allows humans and animals to coexist peacefully.
She asserted, "Nobody favours the ill-treatment of animals. They believe that if animals are taken away, their children would not be bitten. I agree with that. But the animals would not go away."
"If we remove three lakh animals from Delhi, three lakh more would come in within a week from Ghaziabad and Faridabad. If those additional three lakh are removed, more would come in because there is abundant food in Delhi. You have more than 50,000 illegal chicken centres in Delhi. You have meat shops that function without a license. So, law should come into effect for that too. Otherwise, it would never end..." she added.
Appealing to the CJI, the BJP leader said, "I would want the CJI to review it with love and see what the best way is, because our goal is the same. We too want fewer dogs, we want no biting and we want humans and dogs & every animal to live in peace."
Earlier in the day, Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai stated that he would examine the ongoing issue related to the relocation of the dogs after an advocate mentioned the matter and said that different benches of the Supreme Court had issued conflicting directions.
The matter relating to stray dogs was mentioned before a bench headed by the CJI for urgent listing, to which the CJI said, "I will look into this."
Advocate Nanita Sharma said two benches of the apex court have passed different orders on the stray dogs issue.
"This is with regard to the community dogs issue... There is an earlier judgment of this court, of a bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol, which says there cannot be indiscriminate killing of canines and that compassion for all living beings has to be there," the lawyer said.
Sharma was referring to the recent order passed by a bench headed by Justice JB Pardiwala, where the court had ordered relocation of the stray dogs in Delhi to dog shelters and another order passed by a Justice JK Maheshwari-led bench in May 2024, whereby the petitions relating to the stray dog issue were relegated to the respective High Courts.
Justice Maheshwari had said, "Under all circumstances, there cannot be any indiscriminate killings of canines and the authorities have to take action in terms of the mandate and spirit of the prevalent legislation(s) in place".
Sharma today mentioned the petition filed by an organisation named Conference for Human Rights (India), challenging a Delhi High Court's order in its PIL seeking directions for sterilisation and vaccination of community dogs in Delhi as per the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules.