Menace of street dogs discussed in Supreme Court; SG Mehta calls it ‘serious issue’

New Delhi, September 11

Man’s best friend was in for some biting criticism in the Supreme Court on Monday when a lawyer told Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud about how he was hounded and attacked by a pack of dogs in his neighbourhood. Known for having a keen eye for finer points of law, the bandaged arm of lawyer Kunal Chatterjee could not escape Chandrachud's notice and he inquired about the reason. Chatterjee said he got injured after being "hounded and attacked" by five stray dogs in his neighbourhood.

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria urged the court to take suo motu (on its own) notice of the "stray dog menace" in the country.

“We will see what can be done,” the CJI told Hansaria, turning his attention to Chatterjee.

The CJI offered him help, asking, "Do you need any medical attention? I can ask the registry to take you right now." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta referred to a viral video from Uttar Pradesh and spoke of the plight of a man whose son was bitten by a rabid dog and died a painful death in his lap.

“This is a serious menace. Recently a video surfaced. A child was bitten by dogs in Uttar Pradesh. Usually we do not take much care. Once rabies developed, he was taken to hospital. The doctors said nothing can be done, the child was dying in his father's lap,” the law officer said.

"Two years ago, my law clerk was parking his car and he was also attacked by street dogs," the CJI said.

After dogged pursuit by some lawyers seeking the court's intervention to tackle the stray dog menace, the bench proceeded to take up its listed work.