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NEW DELHI: Hearing allegations of “inhuman” treatment of stray dogs by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Supreme Court on Thursday made a pointed remark at the petitioner, saying a video would be played at the next hearing to test the petitioner’s “sense of humanity.”Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, informed a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that the three-judge special bench scheduled to hear the matter that day had been cancelled.
When Justice Nath said his bench would take up the case in January, Sibal urged the court to hear it on Friday instead.“The problem is that, in the meantime, the MCD has framed certain rules that are completely contrary. What is being done is very, very inhuman,” the senior advocate argued.Justice Mehta, in an apparent reference to the stray dog issue, remarked, “On the next date, we will play a video for your benefit and ask you what is humanity.”Sibal responded that the petitioner would also play a video to demonstrate what was actually happening, adding that the MCD intended to implement the rules as early as December.“The difficulty is that your lordships have passed an order, which we fully respect. However, there are statutory rules, and the MCD will implement them. They will remove the dogs, but they do not have shelters,” he noted.The bench replied it would hear the matter on January 7.The Supreme Court is hearing a suo motu case initiated on July 28 following a media report on incidents of stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital. On August 11, the court directed that all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR be removed to shelters in view of the rising number of bite and rabies cases.Following protests, the court modified its order 11 days later, clarifying that the animals would be released back into the same areas after sterilisation and immunisation. It, however, made it clear that dogs infected with rabies or displaying aggressive behaviour would not be released and would instead be housed in shelters.On November 7, taking note of the “alarming rise” in dog bite incidents within institutional areas like educational institutions, hospitals and railway stations, the Supreme Court directed the forthwith relocation of stray canines to designated shelters after due sterilisation and vaccination.(With PTI inputs) Go to Source
