Supreme Court commences hearing in stray dogs case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday commenced hearing in the stray dogs case in which it had directed the chief secretaries of all the states and Union Territories, except West Bengal and Telangana, to remain present before it.
A three-judge special bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that most of the states have filed their compliance affidavits.
The bench asked the counsel appearing for Andhra Pradesh to explain why compliance affidavit was not filed on the previous date.
The bench noted that chief secretaries of the states and UTs are present in the court.
The hearing in the matter is underway.
While hearing the matter on October 27, the top court had directed the chief secretaries of states and UTs, except West Bengal and Telangana, to remain present before it on November 3 to explain why compliance affidavits were not filed despite the court's August 22 order.
The bench had expressed displeasure over the non-compliance of its order and observed that by October 27, compliance affidavits were not filed by the states and UTs, except West Bengal, Telangana and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The apex court on August 22 asked the states and UTs about the steps being taken for compliance of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
