SC lifeline for strays

Municipal bodies in Maharashtra cannot kill stray dogs anymore. The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Bombay high court verdict that allowed municipal authorities to kill strays causing “nuisance”.

The court also issued a notice to the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on an appeal by animal rights activists and the Animal Welfare Board of India, a nodal agency of the government to prevent cruelty against animals, pleading that even dogs had the fundamental right to life.

The court also issued notice to Goa NGO People for Elimination of Stray Troubles that had filed a petition seeking killing of strays.

A bench headed by chief justice KG Balakrishnan passed the restrain order after lawyer Fali Nariman and a former solicitor general TR Andhyarujina sought to know “how could an order be passed that stray dogs be exterminated”.

“A dog cannot be exterminated because it barks,” Nariman said, asserting there are apex court guidelines if stray canines have to be killed. “If a dog is rabid or mortally wounded or incurably ill the authorities have to subject it to euthanasia in keeping with laid down procedures,’’ the counsel added.
 Dogs will have a field day, p3

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Bombai high court verdict  that allowed municipal authorities to kill strays causing a “nuisance”.

Arguing against the high court verdict, noted lawyer Fali Nariman said dogs couldn’t be killed “just because they bark”.

When the bench comprising chief justice KG Balakrishnan and justice P Sathasivam, said a stray dog could bite people, Nariman said the important thing was to sterlise such dogs.

In its December 2008 ruling, the high court had not defined “nuisance” but had made it clear that there could be no “mass killing” of dogs.

The Animal Welfare Board of India had challenged this verdict.

The three-member high court bench had suspended its verdict till January 29 to allow the aggrieved parties to approach the apex court.

Lawyer Raj Panjwani, winner of the global Animal and Environment Legal Defence Fund award, said the Maharashtra government had circumvented the central law by enacting a legislation empowering the municipal commissioner to execute dogs that he thinks are “stray and a nuisance”.

After the high court ruling, Hollywood actor Pamela Anderson had come to the rescue of strays. In a letter to municipal commission Jairaj Phatak, she had said: “It is well established that killing stray dogs is not a permanent solution to control their population. According to studies conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) mass sterlisation of stray animals is the most viable solution to nuisance and health concerns in addition to being more humane.”

Meanwhile, ignoring protests by the Animal Welfare Board of India and animal rights activists, the Srinagar
Municipality in Jammu and Kashmir has once again started poisoning strays.

Explaining their action by saying the dogs have become a nuisance for the public, especially near hospitals, schools and children parks, an official said, “We have chosen to rid Srinagar city of these rabid dogs. The dogs are on the prowl in the mornings and in the evenings.

They chase children, they chase vehicles, they chase people and they are bullying everybody around.”
Offiicals said they were motivated by the recent Bombay high court ruling which said dogs that pose a danger to human life could be killed.

Twists & tails

Under Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, dogs can be killed only if they are rabid, incurably ill or mortally wounded.

But the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act gives the municipal commissioner discretionary powers to order killing of strays.

The issue was whether MMC can prevail over ABC rules.

Justice Radhakrishnan had held in the Bombay HC that ACB Rules are part of PCA Act, which is a Central act. It will prevail over MMC Act, which is a state Act and the commissioner will have no powers to order killing of strays.

But the majority decision - of the other two judges - was that the two legislations should be read in conjunction with each other.

Quote
“BMC does not intend to kill dogs indiscriminately. It has a policy which was stayed from 1995 to 2008 by the Bombay High Court. It was vacated recently. If the Supreme Court has now stayed it again, we will wait for the court's clearance.”
Jairaj Phatak, municipal commissioner