Supreme Court judge Justice Vikram Nath, who headed a three-judge bench that overturned the apex court's order on stray dogs in Delhi-NCR, has thanked Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai for entrusting him with the matter, as it has made him famous across the world. On a lighter note, Justice Nath said not just dog lovers, but even dogs are blessing him and are sending him good wishes.
He made the remark while speaking at the Regional Conference on Human- Wildlife conflict at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on Saturday.
"So long I have been known in the legal fraternity for the little work I do, but I am thankful to the stray dogs for making me known to the entire civil society, not only in this country but world over," Justice Nath said, as reported by Live Law. "And I am thankful to my CJI for allotting me that matter. Recently, we were in 'Law Asia POLA Summit'. The presidents of the lawyers association were here. So they started asking questions about stray dogs matter. I felt very elated… well people outside India also know me. So I am thankful to them for giving me this recognition."
Supreme Court order on stray dogs
On August 22, the top court modified its order on stray dogs in Delhi-NCR, calling it 'too harsh'. The bench, which also included Justices Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria, ordered that all stray dogs must be vaccinated and sterilised before they are released back to the same area from where they are picked up.
The court, however, clarified that the relocation should not apply to dogs infected with rabies or suspected to be infected with rabies and those displaying aggression. It also ordered that all similar cases pending in the high courts across the country should be transferred to it for a "final national policy or decision".
"A blanket direction to pick up all the strays and place them in dog shelters/pounds without evaluating the existing infrastructure may lead to a catch-22 situation because such directions may be impossible to comply with," the court had remarked. "Thus, the direction given in the order dated August 11, 2025, prohibiting the release of the treated and vaccinated dogs seems to be too harsh, in our opinion."
