HC stays order stating a family can have only 1 dog
Panel had passed the order on November 15; it had also made registration of pet dogs mandatory in a month; also a dozen odd foreign breeds of dogs were banned COURT WHILE STAYING THE INTERIM ORDER TOOK JUDICIAL NOTE OF THE DATA CITED BY PANEL IN WHICH IT
The Punjab and Haryana high court has stayed a consumer panel order asking Gurugram administration to ensure that a family keeps only one dog and for the removal of all stray dogs in the city to dog pounds. The high court bench acted on the plea from a resident who argued she was being restrained from keeping another dog by virtue of the order. The order was passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Gurugram on November 15 after observing the failure of municipalities in regulating stray and pet dogs.
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed a consumer panel order asking the Gurugram administration to ensure that one family keeps only one dog and further removal all stray dogs in the city to dog pounds.
The high court bench of justice Rajesh Bhardwaj acted on the plea from two residents. One of the residents had argued that she intended to buy one more dog and that by the virtue of the order in question, she was being restrained from purchasing and keeping another dog.
The order in question was also passed without authority and jurisdiction and in a manner as is beyond the scope of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, one of the counsels in the matter, senior advocate Akshay Bhan had argued.
It was on November 15 this year, the A dozen odd foreign breeds of dogs were banned by the panel District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Gurugram, while noticing failure of municipalities in regulating the stray dogs/pet dogs and also the non-implementation of the government notifications regarding the banned breed of dogs had passed a slew of directions. The order included that one family is required to keep only one dog and the registration of pet dogs was to be made mandatory within one month with an annual fee of Rs 12,000 per year. and it was further ordered that all the stray dogs within the limits of the MC be taken into custody and kept in dog pounds. The order had come in a case where a dog-bite victim was seeking compensation.
The court, however, while staying the interim order, took judicial note of the data cited by the panel in which it was recorded that 77-lakh dog-biting cases are reported throughout India on an everyday basis resulting in 20,000 deaths per year.
Now the court has directed the administration to file an affidavit seeking details of the steps taken by the municipal corporation to ensure that residents, including various housing and residential colonies, get their pets registered with immediate effect upon payment of necessary charges. The MC would also furnish details of the dogs of foreign breeds that are not allowed to be imported as per an April 2016 notification of the Government of India.
Further, it has been directed that the MC ensures compliance of rules/bylaws under Section 311 of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1994, and furnish details of the registration and the fee collected by the MC.
It further directed that it be ensured that every registered owner would keep the dog on leash when brought out at public places and it is guarded so that it does not bite anyone. The owner of the dog would also carry an eco-friendly disposable bag for scooping the poo/shit of the dog and dispose it of properly to maintain hygiene and cleanliness at public places, it said asking the administration to impose appropriate penalty for noncompliance.
The MC has been told to furnish all details of the action taken by it regarding the spaying of stray dogs and total expenses incurred on the same. Besides, details have been sought of dogs being kept in pounds and infirmaries. Details have also been sought of vaccination undertaken by the civic body in the past three years and steps taken to deal with the menace of stray dogs during this period.
The details of the dog biting cases reported in the city in the last five years be also given, the court said referring to reports that nearly 40% dog biting cases and deaths in India relate to children which is definitely an alarming situation and needed to be properly redressed. The details have been sought by February 15.