Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2026 Supreme(SC) 552

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
VIKRAM NATH, SANDEEP MEHTA, N.V. ANJARIA, JJ.
In Re: “City Hounded By Strays, Kids Pay Price” – Appellant
Suo Moto Writ Petition(Civil) No(s). 5 OF 2025 With SLP(Civil) No(s). 14763 of 2024 SLP(Civil) No(s). 17623 of 2025 Writ Petition(Civil) No(s). 784 of 2025 SLP(Civil) Diary No. 45707 of 2025 T.C. (Civil) NO. 140 OF 2025 Contempt Petition (C) NO(S). 749 OF 2025 IN SLP(Civil) NO(S). 14763 OF 2024 T.C. (Civil) No. 147/2025 T.C. (Civil) No. 145/2025 T.C. (Civil) No. 146/2025 T.C. (Civil) No. 144/2025 Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1153/2025 T.C. (Civil) No. 2/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 4/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 5/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 8/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 3/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 12/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 9/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 13/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 10/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 14/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 6/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 11/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 15/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 7/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 1/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 18/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 16/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 17/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 19/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 21/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 22/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 20/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 27/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 24/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 23/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 28/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 31/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 29/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 32/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 37/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 26/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 38/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 25/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 41/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 33/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 40/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 39/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 42/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 34/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 36/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 35/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 50/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 47/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 48/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 46/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 45/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 44/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 49/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 43/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 55/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 59/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 60/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 51/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 52/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 54/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 61/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 56/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 57/2026 T.C. (Civil) No. 53/2026
Decided On : 19-05-2026

Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s):By Courts Motion Mr. Vinay Navare, Sr. Adv. Mr. Pravartak Suhas Pathak, AOR Mr. Akshay Deshmukh, Adv. Mr. Ritu Raj, Adv. Ms. Mansi Jain, Adv. Mr. Yashodhan Chandurkar, Adv. Ms. Pragya Parijat Singh, AOR Mr. Lakshay Saini, Adv. Ms. Jayita Verma, Adv. Mr. Antariksh Singh, Adv. Ms. Shriya Singh, Adv. Mr. Vaibhav Mishra, AOR Mr. Sunil Prakash Sharma, AOR Petitioner-in-person Mr. Deep Prabhu, AOR Mr. M. Gireesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Singh, Adv. Ms. Sneha Mathew, Adv. Mr. Ankur S. Kulkarni, AOR Mr. Rahul Bajaj, Adv. Mr. Amar Jain, Adv. Mr. Amritesh Mishra, Adv. Ms. Sarah, Adv. Mr. Sudhanshu Tewari, Adv. Mr. Faizan Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Shuktiz Sinha, Adv. Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR Mr. N.M. Kapadia, Adv. Mr. Rushabh N. Kapadia, Adv. Mr. Nisarg S. Shah, Adv. Ms. Ranu Purohit, AOR Mr. Bhavik Shah, Adv. Ms. Jahnvi N. Kapadia, Adv. Mr. Alay Shah, Adv. Ms. Shalini Gaud, Adv. Mr. Karan Mehta, Adv. Ms. Aditi A. Dani, Adv. Mr. Yashas Rk, Adv. Miss Jyoti Sharma, AOR Mr. Vaibhav Gaggar, Sr. Adv. Ms. Kokila Kumar, Adv. Mr. Akash Chatterjee, AOR Mr. Kirit Javali, Adv. Mr. Shravan Yammanur, Adv. Ms. Mitali Chauhan, AOR Ms. Nanita Sharma, In-person Mr. Vivek Sharma, Adv. Mr. Mahesh Chandra Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Deepak Sinha, Adv. Mr. Rohit Kumar, Adv. Mr. Shailendra Singh, Adv. Ms. Sabnam Sultana, Adv.
For the Respondent(s):Mr. Tushar Mehta, S.G. Ms. Archana Pathak Dave, AAG Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Sahil Bhalaik, AOR Mr. Tushar Giri, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Anil Khanna, Adv. Mr. Ritik Arora, Adv. Mr. Shivam Mishra, Adv. Mr. Mihir Joshi, Adv. Ms. Ruchira Goel, AOR Ms. Disha Singh , AOR Mr. Nishit Agrawal, AOR Ms. Kanishka Mittal, Adv. Ms. Deepti Rathi, Adv. Mr. Chinmoy Pradip Sharma, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Ankit Roy, AOR Mr. Irfan Hasieb, Adv. Mr. Vijay Deora, Adv. Mr. Aditya Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Mrinalini Ramesh, Adv. Ms. Manisha T. Karia, Sr. Adv. Miss Kalra Sukhda Kishore, AOR Mr. Deepin Deepak Sahni, Adv. Ms. Shreya Gupta, Adv. Mr. Varun Khetwani, Adv. Mr. Vishal Navale, Adv. Mr. Ananta Arora, Adv. Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv. Ms. Sugandha Jain,Standing Counsel (Chhattisgarh) Mr. Prabodh Kumar, AOR Mr. Rachit Mittal, AOR Mr. Anup Kumar, Adv. Mr. Parish Mishra, Adv. Ms. Tanvi Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Shubham Sonthalia, Adv. Mr. Kanishk Raj, Adv. Ms. Srishti Agrawaal, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Sinha, Adv. Mr. Shivansh Bansal, Adv. Mr. Surjendu Sankar Das, AOR Ms. Annie Mittal, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Ms. Priyal Sheth, Adv. M/S. Aura & Co., AOR Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. AAG Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv. Mr. Aman Dev Sharna, Adv. Mr. Gaj Singh, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Gautam, AOR Mr. Vivek Kumar, Adv. Ms. Suruchi Mittal, Adv. Mr. Shubham Soni, Adv. Mr. Raman Singh Kashyap, Adv. Mr. Shiv Verma, Adv. Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Ms. Pragya Baghel, Adv. Ms. Anushka Raghunath, Adv. Mr. Shashikiran Shetty, Adv. Genl. (Karnataka) Mr. Prateek K Chadha, A.A.G. Mr. Naveen Sharma, AOR Mrs. Swati Bhushan Sharma, Adv. Mr. S.K. Sharma, Adv. Ms. Adoorya Harish, Adv. Mr. Sreekar Aechuri, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Soni, Adv. Mr. Aniket Chauhaan, Adv. Ms. Payal Gola, Adv. Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR Dr. Kk Geetha, Adv. Ms. Meena K Poulose, Adv. Mr. Sridhar Potaraju, A.A.G. Mr. D. S. Parmar, A.A.G. Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR Mr. Abhimanyu Singh -g.a., Adv. Ms. Silpi S Swain, Adv. Mr. Aditya Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. Srajan Yadav, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar, Sr. Adv., Advocate General Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv. Mrs. Riya Dhingra, Adv. Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang,, Adv. Mr. Pitambar Acharya, Advocate General Ms. Sanjana Saddy, AOR Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv. Mr. Vivek Jain, A.A.G. Mr. Siddhant Sharma, AOR Mr. Prafull Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Vikram Choudhary, Adv. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Ms. Sonali Jain, Adv. Ms. Sonali Gaur, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Krishna Rastogi, Adv. Mr. Nalin Talwar, Adv. Ms. G. Indira, AOR Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR Ms. Srilekha Pujari, Adv. Mr. Kumar Abhishek, Adv. Mr. P. Venkatraju, Adv. Ms. M. Harshini, Adv. Ms. G. Sushmita, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR Mr. Vishnu Shankar Jain, AOR Mr. Rana Mukherjee, Sr. Adv. Mr. Kamlendra Mishra, AOR Mr. Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Ashiwan Mishra, Adv. Ms. Vaidruti Mishra, Adv. Ms. Aditi Mishra, Adv. Mr. Vinod Kumar, Adv. Mr. Krishna Pandey, Adv. Ms. Ordinala Sen Sneha, Adv. Mr. Suraj, Adv. Ms. Nancy Singla, Adv. Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Rohit Bansal, Adv. Mr. Varij Nayan Mishra, Adv. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. Mukesh Kr. Verma, Adv. Ms. Priyadarshini Priya, Adv. Mr. Harish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Ankit Raj, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Mr. Santosh Ramdurg, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. S D Sanjay, A.S.G. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Neha Singh, Adv. Mr. Divyam Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Ms. Anika Bansal, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Tomar, Adv. Mr. Amit Rawal, Sr. Adv. Mr. K S Kang, Adv. Mr. Amrendra Kumar Mehta, AOR Ms. Rishika, Adv. Ms. Pallavi Daem, Adv. Ms. Gunjan Kumari, Adv. Mr. Shubham Bhalla, AOR Mr. Alex Noel Dass, Adv. Mrs. Anchita Nayyar, Adv. Ms. Ragini Sharma, Adv. Ms. Neha Verma, Adv. Mr. Kamal Joshi, Adv. Mr. Aman Khatri, Adv. Mr. Yajur Bhalla, Adv. Mr. Nishith Bansal, Adv. Mr. Yash, Adv. Mr. Divyadeep Chaturvedi, AOR Ms. Yugandhara Khanwilkar, Adv. Ms. Namrata Shah, Adv. Mr. Anand Grover, Sr. Adv. Mr. Amit Verma, AOR Ms. Swati Sood, Adv. Ms. Varnika Singh, Adv. Mrs. Khuloos Aziz Chawla, Adv. Mr. Colin Gonsalves, Sr. Adv. Mr. Manik Gupta, Adv. Mr. Satya Mitra, AOR Mr. Ajay Choudhary, AOR Mr. Sumeet Lall, AOR Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Abhik Chimni, Adv. Mr. Debmalya Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Rohan Sharma, Adv. Ms. Ambika, Adv. Ms. Unnimaya, Adv. Mr. Vipul Pathak, Adv. Ms. Liza Vohra, Adv. Mr. Aakash Prasad, Adv. Ms. Gauri Puri, Adv. Ms. Shaalini Agrawal, Adv. Ms. Shreya Paropkari, Adv. Mr. Yash Joshi, Adv. Ms. Pranjal Abrol, Adv. Ms. Moksha Sharma, Adv. Ms. Rishi Aggarwal, Adv. M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR Mr. Yashwant Singh, AOR Mr. Akshay Verma, AOR Mr. Kunwar Mohd Asad, Adv. Mr. Loveleen Kaithwas, Adv. Ms. Ankita Sharma, Adv. Mr. Manish Kumar Vikkey, AOR Mr. Malak Manish Bhatt, AOR Ms. Pinky Anand, Sr. Adv. Ms. Damini Chawla, AOR Ms. Saudamini Sharma, Adv. Mr. Samrat Pasriccha, Adv. Ms. Madhurima Ghosh, Adv. Ms. Shaalini Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Pandey, Adv. Ms. Nandita Mishra, Adv. Mr. Raju Ramachandran, Sr. Adv. Ms. Anjali Sharma, Adv. Ms. Damini Chawla, AOR Ms. Shruti Narayan, Adv. Ms. Shaalini Agrawal, Adv. Ms. Nida Khan Salim, Adv. Mr. Mohammed Afeef, Adv. Ms. Madhurima Ghosh, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Pandey, Adv. Ms. Nandita Mishra, Adv. Ms. Karuna Nundy, Sr. Adv. Mr. Mrigank Prabhakar, AOR Mr. Amanpreet Singh, Adv. Mr. Shiv Mehrotra, Adv. Ms. Astha Singh, Adv. Ms. Sindoora Vnl, AOR Mr. Siddharth Dave, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rahul Kriplani, Adv. Ms. Gauri Puri, Adv. Mr. Kashish Bhardwaj, Adv. Mr. Yadav Narender Singh, AOR Mr. Mudit Bansal, Adv. Mr. Hitesh Kumar Yadav, Adv. Mr. Girraj Singh Yadav, Adv. Mr. Yoginder Handoo, AOR Mr. Tushar Sannu, Adv. Mr. Ashwin Kataria, Adv. Mrs. Khushboo Mittal, Adv. Mr. Garvit Solanki, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Vishwakarma, Adv. Mr. Aditya Aggarwal, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Vidyarthi, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Sen, Sr. Adv. Ms. Mandakini Ghosh, AOR Mr. Sayandeep Chakraborty, Adv. Mr. Shivansh Baghel, Adv. Ms. Aakanksha Bhola, Adv. Mr. Rahul Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR Ms. Aditi Tripathi, AOR Mr. Subash Chandran, Adv. Mrs. Kavitha Kt, Adv. Mr. Sharat Gopal, Adv. Mr. Syamkrishnan K, Adv. Mr. Vinu Vincent, Adv. M/S. Subash Chandran & Kavitha Law Associates, AOR Mr. Harisha S.R., AOR Mr. Anil Kumar Mishra-i, Adv. Mr. Aditya Jain - I, Adv. Mr. Ankit Dhawan, Adv. Mr. Supantha Sinha, Adv. Mr. Mohit Miglani, Adv. Mr. Satyam Shivaach, Adv. M/s J & D Law Offices, AOR Mr. Anilendra Pandey, AOR Ms. Kirti Ahuja, Adv. Ms. Kanika Ahuja, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Kumar Ranjan, Adv. Ms. Aarati Sah, Adv. Mr. V. K. Biju, AOR Mr. Atul Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Anjali Mishra, Adv. Applicant-in-person Mr. Aslam Ahmed Jamal, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Singh, Adv. Ms. Anasuya Choudhury, AOR Ms. Epsita Agastya, Adv. Ms. Sudha Pradhan, Adv. Mr. Shameen Yaser, Adv. Miss Kalra Sukhda Kishore, AOR M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Abhik Chimni, Adv. Mr. Debmalya Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Rohan Sharma, Adv. Ms. Ambika, Adv. Ms. Unnimaya, Adv. Mr. Vipul Pathak, Adv. Ms. Liza Vohra, Adv. Mr. Aakash Prasad, Adv. Ms. Gauri Puri, Adv. Ms. Shaalini Agrawal, Adv. Ms. Shreya Paropkari, Adv. Mr. Yash Joshi, Adv. Ms. Pranjal Abrol, Adv. Ms. Moksha Sharma, Adv. Ms. Rishi Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. T. V. George, AOR Mr. Raj Shekhar Rao, Sr. Adv. Ms. Gauri Puri, Adv. Mr. Tanvir Nayar, AOR Mr. Samar Khan, Adv. Mr. Yagyesh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Shubhang Sharma, Adv. Mr. Aditya Puri, Adv. Mr. Shadan Farasat, Sr. Adv. Ms. Varisha Sharma, Adv. Mr. Uday Bedi, Adv. Ms. Shivani Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Bharat Gupta, AOR Ms. Smiksha Singhroha, Adv. Ms. Jyotika Kalra, AOR Mr. Rajesh Gogna, Adv. Mr. Arun Bir Singh Yadav, Adv. Mr. Inderdeep Singh, Adv. Mr. Pradeep Rai, Sr. Adv. Mr. Manoj K. Mishra, AOR Mrs. Rajshree Rai, Adv. Mr. Vinay Kumar, Adv. Ms. Farhat Naim, Adv. Ms. Modoyia Kayina, Adv. Mr. Paras chauhan, Adv. Mr. Umesh Dubey, Adv. Mr. Amrendra Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Madhulika, Adv. Mr. Radeesh Kumar Mt, Adv. Mr. Amulya Dev Mishra, Adv. Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv. Ms. Baani Khanna, AOR Mr. Robin Singh, Adv. Mr. Uday Bedi, Adv. Ms. Varisha Sharma, Adv. Mr. Kapil Balwani, Adv. Ms. Komal Thakkar, Adv. Ms. Shivani Aggarwal, Adv. Ms. Trisha Chandra, Adv. Ms. Smiksha Singhroha, Adv. Mr. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Vivek Sibal, Sr. Adv. Ms. Sneha Sanjay Botwe, AOR Ms. Bidya Mohanty, Adv. Ms. Katyayani Suhrud, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Kalaiyarasan, Adv. Mr. Siddharth S. Chapalgaonkar, Adv. Ms. Shaalini Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Pandey, Adv. Ms. Mishi Aggarwal, Adv. Ms. Esha Dutta, Adv. Ms. Bhavya Pande, Adv. Ms. Nandita Mishra, Adv. Mr. Akash Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. A.m. Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr. Adv. Mr. Percival Billimoria, Sr. Adv. Ms. Mahalaxshmi Pavani, Sr. Adv. Ms. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sourabh Malhotra, Adv. Ms. Aishwarya Singh,, Adv. Mr. Siddhartha Garg,, Adv. Ms. Vaishali Sharma, Adv. Mr. Divyam Khera, Adv. Ms. Rachita Sood, Adv. Ms. Priyamvada Paneru, Adv. Mr. Shival Pandey, Adv. Ms. Jasmine Damkewala, AOR Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, AOR Ms. Nivedita Nair, Adv. Mr. Ganesh Madhukar, Adv. Ms. Jayshree Prabhakar Kingre, Adv. Mr. Kishor Appa Shinde, Adv. Ms. Alpana Sharma, AOR Ms. Purti Gupta (arguing Counsel), AOR Ms. Henna George, Adv. Ms. Sunidhi Sah, Adv. Ms. Pooja, Adv. Ms. Khushi Sharma, Adv. Mr. Rahul Khurana, AOR Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR Ms. Adwaita Sharma, Adv. Ms. Kartika Sharma, Adv. Mr. Udian Sharma, AOR Mr. Manav Mitra, Adv. Mr. Sahil Saraswat, Adv. Ms. Harsha Sadhwani, Adv. Ms. Roopashi Aggarwal, Adv. Ms. Shubhika Joshi, Adv. Mr. S. Vinay Ratnakar, AOR Ms. Aishwarya Sudhir, Adv. Mrs. Divya Dokka, Adv. Mr. Siddhartha Mohanty, Adv. Mr. Suryadeep Singh, Adv. Mr. Piyush Negi, Adv. Mr. Nabab Singh, Adv. Mr. Sunit Kumar Toppo, Adv. Mr. Kashapogu Suresh, Adv. Mr. Krishnan Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Ms. Supriya Juneja, AOR Ms. Nandini Kaushik, Adv. Ms. Umang Motiyani, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Pandey, Adv. Ms. Nandita Mishra, Adv. Ms. Shaalini Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Avinash Mathews, Adv. Ms. Neha Rathi, AOR Mr. Praveen Swarup, AOR Mr. Tushar Sannu, Adv. Mr. Praveen Swarup, Adv. Ms. Akansha Vidyarthi, Adv. Mr. Devesh Maurya, Adv. Mr. Rohit Swarup, Adv. Mr. Yunus Malik, Adv. Mr. Sukhamrit Singh, Adv. Mr. Ved Prakash, Adv. Mr. Praharsh Chaudhary, Adv. Ms. Ashu Tomar, Adv. Mr. Rahul Kaushik, Sr. Adv. Mr. P Prasanna Kumar, Adv. Mr. Anil C Nishani, Adv. Mr. J K Mishra, Adv. Mr. Meenesh Dubey, Adv. Mr. Krishna M Singh, Adv. Ms. Deepti Singh, Adv. Mr. Kushal U, Adv. Mr. Nalini Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Naman Kamboj, Adv. Mr. Shivam Parashar, Adv. Mr. Garv Vikas, Adv. Mr. Muhammad Maroof, Adv. M/s Krishna & Nishani Law Chambers, AOR M/S. V. Maheshwari & Co., AOR Mr. Kailash Prashad Pandey, AOR Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv. Mr. Kailash Prasad Pandey Aor, Adv. Mr. Abhijit.s.kamble, Adv. Mr. Subash.r.kadam, Adv. Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv. Mr. Mahi Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Viraz.r.shah, Adv. Mr. D.p.singh, Adv. Mr. Varun Varma, Adv. Mr. Satvik Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anshuka S. Deshmukh, Adv. Ms. Meenakshi S.kamble, Adv. Ms. Manisha Chawla, Adv. Ms. Shreya Jha, Adv. Ms. Niharika Dwivedi, Adv. Ms. Swati Vishan, Adv. Ms. Ritika Raj, Adv. Ms. Charanjeet Sidhu, Adv. Ms. Divya Mishra, Adv. Ms. Suresh Kumari, Adv. Ms. Asmita Mishra, Adv. Mr. Anupam Kumar, Adv. Mr. Narendra Pal Sharma, Adv. Mr. Rajesh Singh, Adv. Mr. Javed Raza, Adv. Mr. Shubham Rajhans, Adv. Mr. Ishank Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Kumar Solanki, Adv. Mr. Desh Pal Singh, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Singh Dingra, Adv. Mr. Vivek Sharma, AOR Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Siddharth K Garg, Adv. Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, AOR Mr. Sanyam Jain, Adv. Mr. P Rohit Ram, Adv. Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Priya Puri, AOR Mr. Kral P. Rustomkhan, Adv. Mr. Suhail Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Parv Arora, Adv. Mr. P.s. Teji, Sr. Adv. Mr. Abhishek Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Vikram Brar, Adv. Ms. Arushi Lamba, Adv. Mr. R.s.m. Kalky, Adv. Mr. S.p. Singh, Adv. Ms. Deeksha Singh, Adv. Mr. Ajit Kumar Ekka, AOR Intervenor-in-person Mr. Vishal Arun Mishra, AOR Ms. Rupali Panwar, Adv. Mr. Shubham Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Mehta, Adv. Mr. Khushhal Aggarwal, Adv. Ms. Mumtaz Bhalla, AOR Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Bhupendra Singh, Adv. Mr. Dharma Datta Verma, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, AOR Mr. Arvind Datar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, Adv. Mr. Ankur S. Kulkarni, Adv. Ms. Sonia Dube, Adv. Mr. Debdeep Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Abhay Singh Yadav, Adv. M/s Lex Regis Law Offices, AOR Mr. K.k Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Ms. Pritha Srikumar Iyer, AOR Ms. Chinmayee Chandra, Adv. Mr. Gautam Bhatia, Adv. Ms. Shaalini Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Shyam Divan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sudipto Sircar, Adv. Mr. Raghav Bhatia, Adv. Ms. Arunima Kedia, Adv. Ms. Shubhangi Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Anwesha Singh, Adv. Ms. Komal Mundhra, AOR Mr. Aniket Bhattacharyya, Adv. Mr. Karan Khanna, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Agrawal, Adv. Ms. Laxita Upadhyay, Adv. Mr. Pratik R. Bombarde, AOR Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Adv. Mr. Vikas Kumar, Adv. Mr. Subhash Kumar, Adv. Mr. Ashish Bansal, Adv. Mr. Nakul Dewan, Sr. Adv. Ms. Shalaka Patil, Adv. Mr. Amaan Rahman, Adv. Mr. Ayush Chaturvedi, Adv. Ms. Gahena Gambani, Adv. Ms. Ishika Garg, Adv. Ms. Gathi Prakash, Adv. M/s Trilegal Advocates On Record, AOR Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Adv. Ms. Bhavya Pande, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, AOR Mr. Sarthak Mehrotra, Adv. Ms. Subhi Pastor, Adv. Mr. Uday Gautam, Adv. Ms. Aradhya Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Varma, AOR Ms. Bharti Tyagi, AOR Mr. Vikash Kumar, Adv. Mr. Bandi Venkat Sai, Adv. Ms. Sadaf Husain, Adv. Mr. Tejasv Gupta, Adv. Ms. Sultana Sonawane, Adv. Mr. David A., Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Banju, AOR Mr. Gopal Krishna, Adv. Mr. Saransh Khandelwal, Adv. Mr. Mata Prasad Singh, Adv. Mr. Umesh Kumar Shukla, Adv. Mr. Pritam singh, Adv. Mr. Ankit Bhatnagar, Adv. Mr. Ravi Kumar Mehata, Adv. Mr. Binay Kumar, Adv. Mr. Kumar Sambhrant Krishna, Adv. Mr. Sushant, Adv. Mr. Ram Narayan Mohanty, Adv.

Constitutional protection of human life and safety under Article 21 takes precedence over the unhindered presence of stray animals in restricted institutional spaces. Statutory management rules do not grant animals an absolute right to occupy high-risk areas where public health and safety are immediately threatened.

Headnote:(A) Constitution of India - Article 142 - Power of Apex Court to do complete justice - Plenary jurisdiction - Power to act in nebulous areas where statutory law is insufficient or where its application would lead to outcomes inconsistent with constitutional imperatives - Power cannot supplant substantive law but can regulate its operation to balance competing fundamental rights. (Paras 50-63)

(B) Animal Birth Control Rules 2023 - Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 - Classification of animals - Right of stray animals to occupy public and institutional spaces - Interpretation of 'locality' and 'street' in statutory framework - Statutory rules intended for humane management of stray populations do not confer an absolute or indefeasible right for such animals to occupy high-risk, restricted-access institutional environments where public safety is paramount. (Paras 39-49)

Facts of the case:
The present adjudication arose from multiple interlocutory applications seeking the recall or modification of earlier judicial directions aimed at managing stray animal populations in institutional areas. Applicants contended that mandated removal and non-release of animals from such areas contravened specific statutory rules requiring animals to be returned to their original habitat. Conversely, supporting parties highlighted rising conflicts and safety hazards in densely populated institutional and transit areas.

Findings of Court:
The Court held that while the existing animal population management framework is valid, it does not mandate the presence of animals in sensitive public areas where human safety is at risk. The fundamental right to life and safety under the Constitution takes precedence, requiring that institutional spaces such as learning centers, medical facilities, and transport hubs remain secured. It was observed that the specific statutory provision concerning animal release into original localities cannot be interpreted to include restricted-access institutional premises.

Issues: The main issues addressed were whether the statutory framework governing stray animal management grants an absolute right for animals to reside in institutional areas, and whether the judicial directions issued for the removal of such animals, consistent with constitutional safety guarantees, violate the governing statutes.

Ratio Decidendi: The Court determined that Art. 142 of the Constitution provides sufficient authority to address gaps in administrative response when public health and life are at risk. Proper and harmonious construction of the governing laws reveals that institutional and sensitive zones are excluded from the mandate of re-release, as such presence impairs the functional integrity and safety of these areas.

Result: Interlocutory applications seeking modification, clarification, vacation, or stay of the directions are dismissed. Compliance monitoring is decentralized and entrusted to jurisdictional High Courts through continuous mandamus.

Table of Content
1. overview of judicial intervention regarding stray animal menace. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9)
2. competing interests between animal welfare statutory framework and public safety. (Para 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37)
3. harmonious interpretation of abc rules 2023 and exercise of article 142 powers. (Para 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62)
4. administrative accountability, implementation failure, and tortious liability of stakeholders. (Para 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74)
5. validity of standard operating procedures (sops) issued by awbi regarding stray management. (Para 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85)
6. enforcement of constitutional directives through high court monitoring and compliance reporting. (Para 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115)

JUDGMENT :

SANDEEP MEHTA, J.

For clarity of exposition and to facilitate structured consideration of the issues arising in the present matter, this judgment has been organised under the following heads:

INDEX
I.	INTRODUCTION:
II.	PART I: CONSIDERATION OF INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATIONS SEEKING MODIFICATION, CLARIFICATION, VACATION, RECALL AND/OR STAY OF DIRECTIONS ISSUED VIDE ORDER DATED 7TH NOVEMBER, 2025
	1. SUBMISSIONS ADVANCED ON BEHALF OF THE APPLICANTS SEEKING MODIFICATION, CLARIFICATION, VACATION, RECALL AND/OR STAY OF DIRECTIONS ISSUED VIDE ORDER DATED 7TH NOVEMBER, 2025:
	A. Alleged Conflict of the Impugned Directions with the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023
	B. Prayer for Constitution of a Technical/Expert Committee for Comprehensive Evaluation of the Issues Involved
	C. Financial, Logistical, and Infrastructural Constraints in Implementation, including Expenditure towards Creation of Shelters, Deployment of Personnel, and Maintenance of Stray Animals
	D. Deficiencies in Implementation and Enforcement of the Animal Birth Control Framework by State and Municipal Authorities
	2. SUBMISSIONS ADVANCED ON BEHALF OF THE APPLICANTS SUPPORTING THE DIRECTIONS ISSUED VIDE ORDER DATED 7TH NOVEMBER, 2025 AND SEEKING THEIR CONTINUATION AS WELL AS EXTENSION TO OTHER PUBLIC AND INSTITUTIONAL AREAS
	3. CONSIDERATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE SUBMISSIONS ADVANCED BY THE PARTIES:
	A. Scope and Applicability of the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 in Relation to Institutional and Restricted-Access Premises
	B. Exercise of Jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution of India and Validity of the Directions Issued
	C. Examination of Ancillary Contentions Raised on Behalf of the Applicants
	D. Accountability and Tortious Liability in the Context of Stray Dog Management
	4. CONCLUSION:
III.	PART II: CONSIDERATION OF INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATIONS CHALLENGING THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE ISSUED BY THE ANIMAL WELFARE BOARD OF INDIA IN COMPLIANCE OF DIRECTION (J) CONTAINED IN ORDER DATED 7TH NOVEMBER, 2025
IV.	PART III: STATUS OF COMPLIANCE BY THE STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES WITH THE DIRECTIONS ISSUED BY THIS COURT
	ANNEXURE: COMPLIANCE REPORTING FORMAT (STATES/UTS)

I. INTRODUCTION

1. This Court, vide its detailed and comprehensive order dated 7th November, 2025 [In Re: City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price, (2026) 1 SCC 774] upon an exhaustive consideration of the compliance affidavits filed by various States and Union Territories, the summary report submitted by the learned Amicus Curiae, as well as the news reports highlighting the escalating incidents of stray animal intrusions and dog-bite cases across the country, was persuaded to supplement, modify and further elaborate upon the earlier direc

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2026 Supreme(SC) 552

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