Citizens protest against Supreme Court’s directive on stray dogs, at Connaught Place in New Delhi on August 16, 2025.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Friday (August 22, 2025), its ruling on a batch of interim pleas seeking a stay on its contentious August 11, 2025, suo motu directive requiring civic authorities in Delhi and four adjoining districts to capture all stray dogs and confine them in shelters within six to eight weeks.While reserving the case for judgment, a Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath, and also comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria, had remarked that local civic authorities were failing in their duty to address the growing public health risks posed by stray dogs.Also Read | Shelter or vaccinate: Before deciding, India must count its stray dogs accuratelyOn Thursday (August 21, 2025), a different Bench refused to urgently list a plea by an animal rights group, which contended that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had gone ahead with a notification to round up stray dogs even though the apex court had already reserved its judgment.The suo motu case, initially heard by a Bench led by Justice J.B. Pardiwala, was later reassigned by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai to a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath. The reassignment followed an oral mentioning on August 13, 2025, by a lawyer who apprised the CJI of a May 9, 2024 order mandating compassionate treatment of stray canines. In a rare administrative move, the CJI withdrew the case from Justice Pardiwala’s Bench and reassigned it to the three-judge Bench led by Justice Nath. The larger Bench heard the matter at length on August 14, 2025, before reserving orders.| Video Credit:
