Supreme Court of India. File | Photo credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the stray dog case on November 3, in which it has ordered the chief secretaries of all states and union territories, except West Bengal and Telangana, to remain present before it.
While hearing the matter on October 27, the apex court directed the chief secretaries to remain present before it on November 3 to explain why compliance affidavits were not filed despite the court’s August 22 order.
The Supreme Court on August 22 asked states and UTs about the steps being taken to comply with Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules.
The matter is scheduled to be heard on Monday (November 3, 2025) before a three-judge special bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria.
On October 31, the apex court refused to release the chief secretaries of states and UTs to physically appear before it on November 3, saying the court’s order “will not be respected”.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter and urged the bench to allow the chief secretaries to appear before the court virtually.
Expressing displeasure over the non-compliance with its August 22 order, the bench noted that compliance affidavits had not been filed by states and UTs by October 27, except for West Bengal, Telangana and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
It was clear that the Chief Secretaries would have to appear in court and explain why they had not filed any affidavits of compliance.
The court said when the matter was taken up for hearing on October 27, only West Bengal, Telangana and MCD had filed compliance affidavits.
On October 27, the apex court criticized the states and UTs for not filing their compliance affidavits in the matter, saying incidents were happening all the time and the country was being “portrayed as a mine” in foreign countries.
The Supreme Court had earlier extended the scope of the stray dog case beyond the Delhi Capital Region and ordered all states and UTs to become parties to the matter.
He ordered the city authorities to submit an affidavit of compliance with complete statistics of resources such as dog pounds, veterinarians, dog trapping personnel and specially modified vehicles and cages available to date to comply with the ABC rules.
The bench also upheld the states and UTs in the matter, finding that the application of the ABC rules was uniform across India.
The Supreme Court is hearing the suo motu case, which was initiated on July 28 over a media report on a stray dog bite that led to rabies, especially among children, in the state capital.
Published – 02 Nov 2025 13:10 IST
