Supreme Court Asks States To File Affidavits On Forming Animal Welfare Boards

The Supreme Court recently heard a writ petition seeking the establishment of fully functional State Animal Welfare Boards across all States and Union Territories to effectively regulate animal welfare issues.

The matter was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. It stated that despite ample opportunity given, 12 States and 2 Union Territories have not filed their affidavits.

These are Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Ladakh.

Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra submitted that there has been a prolonged inaction by both the Union and State governments. He stated that despite the long pendency of the matter since 2020, the Centre and various States/Union Territories are yet to file their Counter Affidavits and make the State Boards functional.

The Court was informed that despite earlier orders passed in 2020 and 2023, there appears to be no response or clarity from the Union of India, as well as 11 States and 3 Union Territories.

The petition also seeks the notification of the statutory rules governing these boards, namely the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (State Animal Welfare Board) Rules, 2018.

Luthra pointed out that these governing rules have been pending with the Central Government for nearly eight years and urged that they be notified without further delay.

Taking note of the considerations, the bench passed orders asking the respective Chief Secretaries of States and UTs to ensure that they file affidavits regarding the formation of the State Boards within four weeks. It warned that any failure to file affidavit would attract exemplary costs.

The bench has also directed the Union Government to file an updated status report, including what final decision they have taken on the said draft rules.

Case Details: Gauri Maulekhi v. Union of India|W.P.(C) 259 of 2020

Click Here To Read Orders

Appearances: For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr. Adv. Mr. Debmalya Banerjee, Adv. Ms. Esha Dutta, Adv. Mr. Vipul Pathak, Adv. Ms. Liza Vohra, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Pandey, Adv. Ms. Nandita Mishra, Adv. Mr. Mohd Ashaab, Adv. Ms. Mrinalika Pandey, Adv. M/S. Karanjawala & Co., AOR

For Respondent(s) : Ms. Rajeshri Nivuratirao Reddy, 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. Disha Singh, AOR Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv. Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv.Mr. Kumar Saurav,

Adv.Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR Mr. Akshai Malik, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Jain, AOR Mr. Khawar Saleem, Adv. Ms. Divya Jain, Adv. Ms. Diptasree Beg, Adv. Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Mayur Goyal, Adv. Ms. Ishika Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv. Ms. Seema Sindhu, Adv.

Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR Mr. G.M. Kawoosa, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Adv. Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv. Mrs. Riya Dhingra, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh Anand, Adv. Mr. Sanchit Garga, AOR Mr. Kunal Rana, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Jaiswal, Adv. Ms. Diksha Arora, Adv. Mr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, Adv.

Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Santhosh K, Adv. Ms. Devika A.l., Adv. Mr. Surjeet Singh Ga, Adv. Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, AOR Mrs. Pratima Singh, Adv. Mr. Arpit Garg, Adv. Ms. Sakshi, Adv.

Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. Ms. Chitransha Singh Sikarwar, Adv Mr. Lenin Singh Hijam, Advocate General 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. Upendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. P.S. Negi, Adv. Mr. T.K. Nayak, Adv. Mr. Vikas Bansal, Adv. Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Adv. Mr. Aditya Kumar, Adv.

Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Divya Roy, AOR Mr. Satyam Pahal, Adv. Mr. Ruturaj Satpathy, Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, A.A.G. Mr. Siddhant Sharma, AOR Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Aryan Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Krishna Rastogi, Adv. Ms. G. Indira, AOR Mr. P Gandepan, Adv. Mr. Anurag Kashyap, Adv. Ms. Yashi Jain, Adv. Ms. Anjali Singh, Adv.

Ms. Raniba Pangnila, Adv. Mr. Sachin, Adv. Mr. Sravan Kumar Karanam, AOR Mr. Kumar Abhishek, Adv. Ms. M. Harshini, Adv. Ms. G. Sushmita, Adv. Mr. Ankit Goel, AOR Mr. Saurabh Trivedi, AOR Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR

Mr. Mukesh Kr. Verma, Adv. Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Priyadarshini Priya, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv. Mr. Santosh Ramdurg, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Ms. Priyanka, Adv. Mr. Aravindh S., AOR Ms. Jyotika Sharma, Adv. Ms. Ekta Muyal, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR