Building castle in the air: SC irked over non-compliance of orders by states in stray dog case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday flagged concern over state governments not complying with its directions to enhance their stray dog sterilisation capacity, saying, "They are all building castles in the air."
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria, which commenced hearing states' submissions on compliance of its earlier directions, expressed its unhappiness over the progress and said they were engaged in "storytelling".
Senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, who has been appointed amicus curiae in the matter, summarised the initiatives taken by different states, while flagging the deficiencies.
He pointed out that some states have taken steps in consonance with the top court's direction, but there was still a long way to go for total compliance.
The governments will have to step up animal birth control (ABC) facilities, ramp up sterilisation of stray dogs, set up dog pounds (animal shelters), fence up institutional areas and remove stray animals from roads and highways, the advocate said.
Pointing to the initiatives taken by the Bihar government, Agrawal said there are 34 ABC Centres where, they say, 20,648 dogs have been sterilised. But they have not specified the daily capacity of sterilisation, and for what period the figure specifies, he said.
"The state should have done a complete audit of ABC centres. If there are more than six lakh dogs in the state, sterilisation of 20,648 dogs is totally insufficient. Ninety-one dogs are presently lodged in the pounds.
"The affidavit does not indicate in how many institutional areas the survey has been done to see if there are fences, boundary walls, etc.," Agarwal submitted.
The bench said, "They are all building castles in the air. None of the states have given data on how many stray dog bites happened, except for Assam."
Advocate Manish Kumar, appearing for the Bihar government, however, said the state was putting things in place, and substantial progress will be made within three months.
The top court also expressed surprise over the data on dog bites in Assam. "Look at the statistics of bites. It is astonishing. In 2024, there were 1.66 lakh bites. And in 2025, only in January, there were 20,900. This is shocking," it observed.
The bench said that states cannot make vague statements, and all vague averments are made on affidavits. "We are going to pass strong strictures against states that make vague averments," Justice Nath said.
The apex court, which also heard the submissions of Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gujarat, observed non-compliance of directions for fencing of institutional areas to prevent ingress of stray animals into schools and hospitals.
"Every public building should be fenced, not only because of stray dogs or other animals but also to protect the property from theft," the bench observed. It said that states have engaged in "storytelling and nothing concrete appears to have been done on the ground".
Agrawal said he will summarise the steps taken by Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana on Thursday.
The top court posted the matters for hearing on Thursday.
On January 20, the top court came down heavily on former Union minister Maneka Gandhi for her remarks criticising apex court orders in the stray dog issue, saying she has committed contempt of court.
The top court was hearing several petitions seeking modification of its November 7, 2025, order directing authorities to remove stray animals from the institutional areas and roads. On January 13, the top court said it would ask states to pay a "heavy compensation" for dog bite incidents and hold dog feeders accountable for such cases.
The court also flagged concerns over the non-implementation of norms on stray animals for the last five years.
Earlier, the apex court said it would not go into the allegations of harassment of women dog feeders and caregivers by purported anti-feeder vigilantes since it was a law and order issue, and the aggrieved persons could lodge FIRs about it. It also refused to go into the claims about certain derogatory remarks being made about women on the issue.
Taking note of the "alarming rise" in dog-bite incidents within institutional areas such as educational institutions, hospitals and railway stations, the apex court on November 7 directed relocation of stray canines forthwith to designated shelters after due sterilisation and vaccination.
It had also said stray dogs picked up shall not be released back to their original place. The court had directed authorities to ensure the removal of all cattle and other stray animals from the state highways, national highways and expressways.
The top court is hearing a suo motu case, initiated on July 28 last year, over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.
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Bengaluru jail introduces biometric tracking system for prisoners
Bengaluru: In a bid to curb misconduct and illegal activities inside Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, prison authorities have introduced a new ‘Prisoners Tracking Movement System’ under which inmates will have to undergo biometric verification while entering every barrack.
According to jail officials, biometric systems have been installed across all major sections of the prison, including barracks, visitor rooms, hospital, canteen, kitchen, library, playground, handicraft units and bakery sections. Staff members have also been deployed at these locations.
Officials said inmates visiting the visitors’ room must now obtain a digital token after biometric verification. Details such as the prisoner’s name, identification number and entry time will be updated in the prison software system. This will help authorities maintain a complete digital record of inmates visiting and returning from meeting rooms.
Similar systems have also been introduced at entry points of the hospital, library and other barracks accessed for work-related purposes. Officials said the system will help identify prisoners involved in suspicious or illegal activities with other inmates and enable authorities to track how much time a prisoner spends at different locations inside the prison.
Authorities stated that AI-powered cameras were already being used inside the prison to monitor inmates as well as prison staff. Along with this, digital tracking of prisoner phone calls and a digital token system for visitor meetings have now been added to strengthen surveillance over inmate movement. Officials said the project has been implemented at a cost of around Rs 2.25 crore.
The prison department has also introduced a canteen usage tracking system to monitor prisoners’ spending patterns. Instead of direct cash payments, inmates can purchase bakery items and snacks using wallets or coupons issued within the prison system.
Officials said the digital system will record details including the buyer’s name, items purchased, quantity, date, time and remaining wallet balance. This will allow prison authorities to maintain complete expenditure records of inmates.
