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While hearing the stray dogs case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court warned states of imposing a heavy fine "for every bite and every death". Noting that the "effect of a dog bite is lifelong," the Supreme Court held dog feeders liable for stray dogs.
"For every dog bite, for every death, we will be likely fixing heavy compensation for states for not making requisite arrangements," the Supreme Court said, as per Bar and Bench.
"And also liability to dog feeders. You take them to your house, keep them, why should they be allowed to roam around, biting, chasing? The effect of a dog bite is lifelong," the court added.
The Supreme Court bench, comprising justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria, was hearing a case concerning stray dogs in India.
'Are you for real?'
During the hearing, Justice Sandeep Mehta told a counsel: "Are you for real?". He pointed to statistics shared by a "young counsel" of orphan children on the streets. His comments came after a counsel argued that "children need to be removed from the streets first. Not dogs. Children need shelters."
"A young counsel just showed us statistics of orphan children on the streets. Perhaps some lawyers could argue for the adoption of those children. Since the year 2011, since I was elevated, these are the longest arguments I have heard. And till now no one has argued so long for human beings," Justice Sandeep Mehta was quoted by Bar and Bench as saying.
The court also asked, "Who should be made responsible when a 9-year-old child is killed by dogs which are fed by a particular organisation? Should the organisation not be made liable for damages?"
The court listed the matter for further hearing at 2 pm on January 20.
ABC rules
The Supreme Court and lawyers also argued over the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules.
Advocate Menaka Guruswamy said, "The ABC rules are not just about birth control." She referred to Article 51, "which says we must have compassion for all living creatures."
The ABC rules are a result of parliament applying its mind.
"That is the society we want to be. Why do we oppose capital punishment? Because we believe that as a society it dehumanises us. When we are talking about removing species, we are dehumanising ourselves. We cannot be in short supply of compassion," Guruswamy said.
She further argued that killing won’t diminish the numbers, sterilisation will.
"If the regulators did their job better, we would not be living in the catastrophe we are in now. Money should be given to the organisations working. The program centres are underutilising the funds that are set up," she said.
What's the case?
The matter gained national attention last year after a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed Delhi municipal authorities to round up and shelter stray dogs. This led to mass protests from animal rights groups.
That order was later modified by the present three-judge bench. It mandated vaccination and release of sterilised dogs instead of permanent sheltering.
During the hearing on December 7, the Supreme Court highlighted the increasing number of dog bite incidents in the country and criticised the municipal authorities and other local bodies for their failure to implement the Animal Birth Control (ABC) rules.
During the hearing on January 8, the Court said that a dog can always smell people who are afraid of them and will attack when it senses that fear.
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