Supreme Court Directs All High Courts To Monitor Compliance Of Stray Dog Management Orders, Says Erring Officials Will Face Contempt

The Supreme Court today directed all High Courts in the country to register suo motu writ petitions to monitor compliance with the its directions to remove dogs from the premises of educational institutions, hospitals, bus stands, railway stations, etc., while warning that continued non-compliance by officials may invite contempt proceedings.“It is made clear that any continued failure or deliberate non-compliance with the directions issued by this court and the present in the present order and the earlier order shall render the erring officials of the Municipal Department, administrative authorities, and the officials of the concerned departments of the States and UTs liable to appropriate proceedings in accordance with law. The jurisdictional High Courts, while undertaking the monitoring exercise in terms of the present order, shall be fully empowered to take appropriate action including initiation of contempt proceedings against the erring officials responsible for non-compliance, inaction, or wilful disregard of the directions issued by this Court”, the Court stated.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria passed the directions while disposing of applications challenging the Standard Operating Procedures issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) pursuant to the Court's November 7, 2025 order.Today, the Court passed various directions, including directing States and Union Territories to take time-bound steps to strengthen infrastructure for sterilisation and vaccination programmes and establish at least one fully functional Animal Birth Control centre in every district.The Court also directed States and Union Territories to ensure adequate availability of anti-rabies vaccines and immunoglobulin in government medical facilities. NHAI was directed to formulate a comprehensive mechanism to deal with stray cattle and animals on national highways and expressways.The Court opined that entrusting High Courts with monitoring and compliance with these directions as well as earlier directions for removal of stray dogs from public places would ensure closer engagement with local conditions and timely corrective intervention.“A Pan-India monitoring exercise by this court in respect of the day-to-day compliance would not only be administratively burdensome and timely and time intensive, but may also not achieve the degree of responsiveness and efficacy that the situation demands. On the other hand, entrusting the High Courts with the responsibility of monitoring would ensure closer engagement with the local conditions, timely corrective intervention and more effective enforcement of the directions suit, while also enabling the formulation of the context sensitive measures suited to the peculiar needs of each state and region”, the Court observed.Thus, the Court directed all High Courts to register a suo motu writ petition in the name of “In Re Compliance With The Directions Issued By Supreme Court…” for monitoring compliance with the directions issued by the Supreme Court today, on August 22, 2025 and on November 7, 2025. The matters be placed before Division Benches of the respective High Courts, the Court requested.The Court said that the concerned High Courts would be at liberty to expand the scope of the directions to address local conditions, without diluting the Supreme Court's directions.The Court further clarified that the High Courts would be empowered to initiate contempt proceedings against officials responsible for non-compliance, inaction or wilful disregard of the directions.The Court directed the registry of the Supreme Court to send copies of the present order and earlier orders dated August 11, 2025, August 22, 2025 and November 7, 2025 to Registrar Generals of all High Courts. It also directed transfer of records of all transferred cases and applications to the respective High Courts.Chief Secretaries and Secretaries of relevant departments of all States and Union Territories have been directed to file updated compliance affidavits before jurisdictional High Courts by August 7, 2026. The Union of India and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) also have to file compliance affidavits before the concerned High Courts.The Court warned that continued non-compliance or apathy in implementation of its directions would be viewed seriously and could expose municipal officials and officers of States and Union Territories to contempt proceedings, disciplinary proceedings and tortious liability.The Court additionally held that officers implementing its directions would be entitled to protection for bona fide actions taken in discharge of official duties and ordinarily no coercive proceedings should be initiated against them for such actions unless there was a prima facie case of mala fides or gross abuse of authority.The matter arose from the Supreme Court's suo motu proceedings on stray dog attacks. On November 7, 2025, the Court had directed removal of stray dogs from...

Supreme Court Directs All High Courts To Monitor Compliance Of Stray Dog Management Orders, Says Erring Officials Will Face Contempt

Amisha Shrivastava

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Supreme Court Directs All High Courts To Monitor Compliance Of Stray Dog Management Orders, Says Erring Officials Will Face Contempt

Amisha Shrivastava

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