‘They Must Come And Explain’: Supreme Court Refuses Virtual Appearance for Chief Secretaries in Stray Dogs Case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to exempt Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories from personal appearance in the stray dog menace case, directing them to be physically present in court over non-compliance with its earlier orders.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had requested that the Chief Secretaries be allowed to appear virtually instead of in person.

However, the Bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, turned down the plea, observing that the states had failed to comply with its directions and had not filed affidavits as instructed.

“No, let them come physically,” the court said. “It’s very unfortunate that the court is giving time here, the government frames rules and no action is taken. They are sleeping over the order of the court. Let them come, we will deal with them,” the SC Bench said.

On October 27, the apex court had summoned Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, except Telangana, West Bengal and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, for their failure to submit compliance affidavits regarding the implementation of measures to control the stray dog menace.

The Supreme Court Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria had warned that “continuous incidents were happening” and India’s image was suffering abroad. Only three compliance affidavits had reached the Court despite notices and a two-month window, the Bench had recorded in its order.

The court made it clear that the top officials must personally appear and explain the reasons for non-compliance when the matter is next heard on November 3.

The present monitoring stems from the court’s August 22 order that stayed an earlier August 11 directive of a two‑judge bench barring the release of sterilised and vaccinated dogs, which the three‑judge bench said “seems too harsh”. The court clarified that, in line with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, dogs picked up by authorities must be sterilised, vaccinated, and released back into the very same locality, with exceptions for rabid, suspected‑rabid and aggressively behaving animals. The scope was expanded pan‑India.

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