SC stays Delhi HC order on feeding of stray dogs
New Delhi, Mar 5: The Supreme Court has stayed a Delhi High Court order which laid down guidelines regarding feeding of stray dogs while observing that citizens have the right to feed community canines.
A bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose issued notices to the Animal Welfare Board of India, Delhi government and others on an appeal filed by an NGO against the High Court order.
"Issue notice, returnable in six weeks. Meanwhile, operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed," the bench said.
The top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Humane Foundation for People & Animals challenging the June 24, 2021 order of the High Court.
The NGO contended that the High Court's directions can lead to an increase in the menace of stray dogs.
"A dog under human supervision and control and dependent on its human caretakers for all of its needs can be prevented from biting and attacking people and other animals by physical restraint, confinement to private property and suppressing aggressive tendencies with care and training. This is not the case with stray dogs, therefore feeding in societies, streets or at any public places is a direct risk to citizens," the NGO said.
The High Court had said stray dogs have the right to food and citizens have the right to feed community canines while observing that in exercising this right, care and caution should be taken to ensure that it does not impinge upon others and causes no harassment or nuisance.
The High Court, while laying down guidelines regarding feeding of stray dogs, had said every dog is a territorial being and it has to be fed and tended to at places within their territory which is not frequented by the general public.
Any person having compassion for stray dogs can feed them at their private entrance or driveway of their house or any other place not shared with other residents but no one can restrict the other from feeding dogs, until and unless it is causing harm or harassment to them, it had said.
"Community dogs (stray/street dogs) have the right to food and citizens have the right to feed community dogs but in exercising this right, care and caution should be taken to ensure that it does not impinge upon the rights of others or cause any harm, hindrance, harassment and nuisance to other individuals or members of the society," the High Court had said.
It had said that street dogs perform the role of community scavengers and also control rodent population in the area, thus preventing spread of diseases like leptospirosis and they also provide companionship to those who feed them and act as their stress relievers.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
