New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it will pronounce verdict on the stray dog ??case on November 7. A three-judge special bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice NV Anjaria noted that the Chief Secretaries of most states and Union Territories were present in the court.
The bench said that the Animal Welfare Board of India will also be made a party in the matter. At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that most states and Union Territories have filed their compliance affidavits in the matter.
The court said that the personal presence of the Chief Secretaries of the states and Union Territories will no longer be required and warned that their presence will again become mandatory in case of any default in complying with the orders passed by the court.
It is worth mentioning that during the hearing on October 27, the Supreme Court had asked the Chief Secretaries of all the states and Union Territories, except West Bengal and Telangana, to appear before the court on November 3. This order was given because they had not filed compliance affidavits despite the court's order of August 22.
On August 22, the Supreme Court had asked the states and Union Territories about the steps taken to comply with the Animal Birth Control Rules. The court had expressed displeasure over the non-compliance and said that the country was being shown low abroad due to the continuous incidents. The Supreme Court had extended the scope of the matter beyond Delhi-NCR and made all the states and Union Territories parties to it.
The suo moto case was initiated on July 28, when a media report reported an outbreak of rabies, especially among children, due to bites from stray dogs in Delhi.