The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Center and other parties on a plea to keep stray cattle off the national and state highways across India. The Supreme Court sought responses to a request for a direction to the relevant authorities regarding the management of stray cattle on India’s key highways, PTI reported.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notices to the Center and other concerned authorities, including states and Union Territories. The court requested their responses to the plea within a set period of four weeks.
“The state charges 10% crap and does nothing,” the court quoted Bar & Bench as saying. The counsel for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) replied, “I am told that this is the same matter in which the decision is reserved (referring to the suo motu case related to stray dogs).
The petitioner said, “That will be covered for the most part. I have a few other issues.”
The request for uniform national guidelines and enforcement framework for the prevention of cattle trespassing on highways was filed by Lawyers For Human Rights International. It asked the relevant authorities to ensure mandatory fencing of national highways and expressways to prevent road accidents. Seeking fencing especially in accident prone sections, this plea has also given rise to demands for setting up scientifically managed cattle shelters/gaushals with earmarked funds.
He called for the imposition of strict criminal liability for the illegal abandonment of livestock. Further, the petition urged the court to formulate a no-fault compensation framework for victims of accidents caused by stray cattle. This notice follows the Supreme Court order on stray dogs.
Supreme Court on removal of stray dogs
In November, the Supreme Court ordered the removal of stray dogs from educational institutions, hospitals, bus stops, sports grounds and railway stations.
The court ordered relevant authorities to send canines to designated dog shelters, he said: “Every stray dog must be removed from these premises immediately after sterilization and transferred to a shelter.” This order was also passed by Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta along with NV Anjaria.
The Supreme Court ordered the authorities to prevent the dogs from entering the premises of government and public institutions and prohibited them from releasing the canines back to the same place from where they were picked up.
The bench monitoring stray dog bite cases through suo motu proceedings directed the local municipal authorities to conduct regular inspections of all premises to ensure that they are free of stray dog habitat.
