SC to Sharmila Tagore on stray dogs case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday, January 9, sharply criticised actor Sharmila Tagore’s statements against the uniform approach taken towards dealing with the stray dog issue, calling the submissions “devoid of reality.”

A three-judge special bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria observed that some of the arguments made before it were “far from reality” and there were several videos of stray dogs attacking children and the elderly.

The top court was hearing arguments on pleas, including the ones filed by dog lovers, seeking modification of its earlier orders.

Tagore’s lawyer had presented the example of a friendly dog named Goldie living on the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus for several years.

However, the Supreme Court observed, “Was the dog being taken to the hospital operation theatre also? Any dog that’s on the streets is bound to have ticks. And a dog with ticks in a hospital will have disastrous consequences. Do you understand? We’ll let you know the reality of what is being argued.”

“You are completely removed from reality. Don’t try to glorify that there was a dog at AIIMS,” the top court said.

Tagore’s lawyer further suggested colour-coded collars for dogs to identify them as aggressive and non-aggressive, a method implemented in countries like Armenia and Georgia.

The court questioned the lawyer again and asked them to be realistic about India’s population.

“What is the population of those countries? Please be realistic, counsel,” the Supreme Court said.

SC refuses to go into the allegation of harassment of women dog feeders

Additionally, the Supreme Court said it would not go into the allegations of harassment of women dog feeders and caregivers by purported anti-feeder vigilantes, since it was a law-and-order issue, and the aggrieved persons could lodge first information reports (FIR) about it.

Senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani highlighted the plight of women dog feeders and caregivers and said anti-feeder vigilantes have assumed the role of enforcing the apex court’s order.

“Under the garb of this, they are harassing women, they are molesting women, and they are beating women,” she said.

Justice Nath observed, “Lodge an FIR against them. Who stops you?”

The bench said that if anyone was harassing or molesting women, it was a crime, and the aggrieved person could set the criminal law in motion by lodging an FIR.

When Pavani referred to an incident where a dog feeder was attacked in her house, the bench said, “All this is a criminal offence. You lodge an FIR against that.”

“We can’t take up these individual cases where something is going wrong somewhere. This court is not going to monitor that. That is a law-and-order problem,” Justice Nath observed.

Pavani said that in Haryana, certain societies hired bouncers to remove dog feeders, and a woman was slapped in Ghaziabad, but no FIR was lodged.

“We are not going to accept this. If a criminal offence is committed, an FIR will be registered. There are procedures available to you, remedies available and how to get it registered,” the bench said.

Hearing remains inconclusive, resumes on Jan 13

The hearing in the matter remained inconclusive and would continue on January 13.

While hearing arguments on Thursday, January 8, the bench said it had not directed the removal of every dog from the streets, and the directive was to treat stray canines according to the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules.

It had earlier flagged the non-compliances of rules and directions by civic bodies and said people were dying not only due to dog bites alone in the country but also because of accidents caused by stray animals on roads.

Taking note of the “alarming rise” in dog bite incidents within institutional areas such as educational institutions, hospitals and railway stations, the apex court on November 7 directed relocation of stray canines forthwith to designated shelters after due sterilisation and vaccination.

It also said stray dogs picked up shall not be released back in the place they were picked up. It directed the authorities to ensure the removal of all cattle and other stray animals from the state highways, national highways and expressways.

The top court is hearing a suo motu case, initiated on July 28 last year, over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital of Delhi.

(With inputs from PTI)