Supreme Court Mandates Physical Appearance of Chief Secretaries in Stray Dogs Case

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court has firmly denied requests from senior bureaucrats who sought virtual appearances in the stray dogs case for the second consecutive day. The court has mandated that chief secretaries from all states and Union territories, with the exception of West Bengal and Telangana, must physically attend court on November 3. The justices criticized officials for "sleeping" on previously issued court directives.

When Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested exemptions from physical appearance for these top officials, Justice Vikram Nath decisively rejected the plea, insisting they must appear in person to explain their non-compliance with court orders.

"No, let them appear in person. It is very unfortunate that the court is giving time here, but the government makes rules and takes no action," Justice Nath declared. "They are sleeping on the court order. Let them come; we will deal with them. They must appear in person and explain why compliance affidavits were not filed."

Earlier, on October 27, the Supreme Court had instructed chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, excluding the two exempted states, to present themselves before the court on November 3 to account for their failure to comply with the August 22 directive requiring them to file affidavits.

On August 22, the court had expanded the scope of the case by including all states and union territories as parties to the matter. The court had also directed all states to ensure uniform implementation of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules throughout the country.