The Supreme Court has referred the suo motu case on stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to a three-judge bench. The case will be heard on Thursday by Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria. Earlier, on August 11, a two-judge bench led by Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan ordered the relocation of stray dogs to shelters.

The relocation order was issued on Monday by a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, and the issue was brought before Chief Justice Gavai on Wednesday. Advocate Nanita Sharma requested an urgent hearing, highlighting two conflicting Supreme Court rulings, one mandating implementation of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, which require sterilised and vaccinated stray dogs to be returned to their original localities.

In Monday’s order, Justices Pardiwala and Mahadevan cited increasing dog bite incidents and directed that all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR be rounded up and kept in shelters, ensuring they are not allowed to escape.

"We are not doing this for us, it is for the public interest. So, no sentiments of any nature should be involved. Action should be taken at the earliest... Pick up dogs from all localities and shift them to shelters. For the time being, forget the rules," Justice Pardiwala had said.

"All these animal activists, will they be able to bring back those who have fallen prey to rabies? We need to make streets absolutely free of stray dogs," the bench had remarked.