Former Supreme Court Justice Abhay S. Oka, in his first interview after retirement, criticised the transfer of the stray dog case from Justice Pardiwala’s bench, stressing that even the Chief Justice has no authority to ask any bench to modify its order.
Former Supreme Court Justice Abhay S. Oka, in his first interview after retiring in May, expressed that the decision to transfer the stray dog case to another bench was misguided.
He stated that the case should not have been taken away from Justice J.B. Pardiwala’s bench following widespread public opposition.
Justice Oka warned that moving cases in response to public criticism conveys the wrong message. He also emphasized that no Chief Justice (CJI) has the authority to write to any bench requesting a modification of its order.
His comments arise amid the controversy surrounding Justice Pardiwala’s August 11 ruling, which mandated the mass capture of stray dogs in Delhi and neighboring regions for relocation to shelters.
Following significant criticism, Chief Justice (CJI) Justice Bhushan R. Gavai issued an administrative directive to reassign the case to a larger bench. On August 22, the larger bench revised Justice Pardiwala’s order, describing it as “too harsh.”
The new ruling stated that the captured stray dogs should be returned to their original areas after being sterilized and vaccinated.
In a separate case, Chief Justice Gavai had written to Justice Pardiwala, urging him to reconsider the August 4 order that prohibited an Allahabad High Court judge from handling any criminal cases for the rest of his term.
However, Justice Oka clarified,
“Benches can withdraw or modify their orders by re-listing the cases and hearing the parties afresh but it is clear that the Chief Justice cannot write to any bench asking it to modify the order.”
Justice Oka also remarked that if the Chief Justice needed to transfer the stray dog case to a larger bench, it should have consisted of an extension of the original two-judge bench.
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Emphasizing that the removal of the original judge was not appropriate in principle, Justice Oka stated,
“If it had to be assigned to a larger bench, the same bench could have been continued and one more judge could have been added to it,”
Earlier order of August 11, passed by a Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, had created huge controversy. That order had directed that all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR must be caught and sent to shelters within eight weeks.
The Court at that time had taken serious note of the rising number of dog bite cases and rabies-related deaths. In fact, official figures from 2024 showed at least 37 lakh dog bite cases and 54 suspected deaths due to rabies.
The apex court, On Aug 22, changed its earlier order of August 11 that had directed authorities to round up all stray dogs in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) and to keep them permanently in shelters without release.
A three-judge Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria ruled that stray dogs should be sent back to their original locations after proper medical care.