- By Shubham Bajpai
- Fri, 31 Oct 2025 01:16 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Supreme Court on Friday slammed the chief secretaries of multiple states after a request to allow them to appear virtually was made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in the stray dogs case.
The court asked the chief secretaries to appear in person on November 3 for the hearing. It came after a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta had made it clear that the chief secretaries would have to appear physically before the court.
Pulling up the bureaucrats, Justice Nath said, When we require them to come and file a compliance affidavit, they are just sleeping over it". "No respect for the order of the court. Then, alright, let them come," he added.
Mehta had requested the apex Court to allow the chief secretaries of states, except Telangana and West Bengal, to appear virtually before the court.
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"This is that dog menace matter. Because of our default, your lordships were constrained to call the chief secretaries. The only request is, instead of coming physically, can they appear virtually," Mehta said.
Earlier on Thursday, the top Court refused to accept the Bihar government’s request to exempt its chief secretary from appearing before it on November 3 due to assembly elections in the state.
The bench had said, "There is an Election Commission which would take care. Don’t worry. Let the chief secretary come".
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On October 27, the court had directed that all top bureaucrats, except those of West Bengal and Telangana, remain present before it on the next hearing, seeking an explanation for why compliance affidavits were not filed despite the court’s August 22 order.
The case initially started with the stray dogs issue in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). However, on August 22, the court had expanded its scope to all states and UTS, directing that all states and UTs be made parties in the matter.