The Supreme Court has assigned the high-profile stray dogs case to a new bench led by Justice Vikram Nath, with Justices Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria. The bench will review the August 11 order mandating removal of all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR streets and decide on stay applications.
New Delhi: On August 13, The Supreme Court has now formed a new three-judge bench, headed by Justice Vikram Nath, to hear the case related to stray dogs in India. The other members of this bench are Justices Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria.
This matter, officially titled In Re: “City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price”, was earlier being heard by a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan. On August 11, that bench had given a detailed order directing that
“all stray dogs be removed from streets and public spaces in Delhi, NOIDA, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad”,
and that they should be
“relocated to shelters” with a “complete prohibition on releasing them back”.
The court had stressed that
“the exercise must be prioritised and carried out without compromise”.
Earlier today, when the case was mentioned in court, a lawyer informed the judges that there is already a Special Leave Petition pending before the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court judgment on the stray dog issue.
The lawyer also pointed out that different benches of the Supreme Court have passed orders on the same subject.
This includes a bench led by Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol in one case, and the bench of Justices Pardiwala and Mahadevan in the present suo motu matter. The lawyer said this overlapping situation could result in “conflicting directions” from different benches.
Later in the evening, the matter was again mentioned in court, with submissions that
“dogs were being hounded and captured even though the top court orders was not published”.
Taking note of this, the Supreme Court directed that the current suo motu case, along with other connected matters, should be placed before the new bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N.V. Anjaria. This bench will also hear all applications seeking a stay on the August 11 order.
In its August 11 decision, the bench of Justices Pardiwala and Mahadevan had called the stray dog situation “extremely grim”, linking it to the increasing number of dog bite incidents, especially involving children, the elderly, and homeless individuals.
The court referred to official data which recorded
“37,15,713 reported dog bites across the country in 2024, including 25,201 in Delhi”.
The August 11 order had also directed the creation of shelters across the National Capital Region within eight weeks, the permanent capture and detention of stray dogs in these shelters, ensuring humane care standards, and setting up a helpline to respond to bite complaints “within four hours”.
The order made it clear that
“any release of a captured stray dog back to the streets would invite strict action against the responsible officials”.
These measures were to be implemented alongside sterilisation, deworming, and immunisation of the stray dogs.
The newly assigned bench will now review these directions along with previous judicial orders and the pending Special Leave Petition. It will also decide on the applications seeking temporary relief against the August 11 order. The matter is listed for hearing before this bench tomorrow.
Last Hearing
In the last hearing on August 11, the bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan described the stray dog situation as “extremely grim”, linking it to rising dog bite incidents, especially among children, the elderly, and the homeless.
The court cited official data reporting 37,15,713 dog bites across India in 2024, including 25,201 in Delhi. It ordered the removal of all stray dogs from streets and public spaces in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Faridabad, directing their relocation to shelters with a
“complete prohibition on releasing them back”.
The bench emphasized that
“the exercise must be prioritised and carried out without compromise”.
The August 11 order also mandated the creation of shelters within eight weeks, humane care standards, a helpline to respond to bite complaints “within four hours”, and implementation of sterilisation, deworming, and immunisation programs.
Any release of captured dogs back into the streets would invite strict action against the responsible officials.
Case Title:
In Re: “City hounded by strays, kids pay the price”
Read Order:
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