Stray dogs inside Madras High Court buildings | Acting Chief Justice insists on striking a balance between animal welfare and human fear
ACJ D. Krishnakumar says, dog lovers should not consider those who fear the animals as “dog haters”
A stray dog roaming inside the 132-year-old heritage building of Madras High Court.
| Photo Credit: Mohamed Imranullah S.
Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) D. Krishnakumar on Monday insisted on striking a balance between the need to take care of stray dogs and the necessity to give due consideration to people who fear of being bitten or barked upon by the animals in public places.
Presiding over the first Division Bench along with Justice P.B. Balaji, the ACJ said, the dog lovers should not consider those who oppose the presence of stray dogs inside the Madras High Court buildings or even elsewhere within the campus as “dog haters.”
The ACJ said he too has dogs at his bungalow in Chennai and even in his native village but that does not mean he could ignore the fear expressed by advocates, especially the women lawyers, and the litigants over the presence of stray dogs inside the court campus.
The ACJ said, even the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP) had written to B. Hari, Registrar (Administration) of the High Court on August 9 expressing concern over the presence of a large number of stray dogs on the High Court campus and also inside the court buildings.
“Several dogs are infected and they spread infection… The strays also pollute the premises and affect the cleanliness of the High Court premises. Hence, it is just and necessary to take immediate steps to direct the authorities concerned to take away the street dogs,” the BCTNP had said.
Advocate S. Haja Mohideen Gisthi, representing the High Court Registry, told the Division Bench that the Law Association as well as Women Lawyers’ Association had insisted upon preventing the entry of stray dogs in to the High Court campus but yet taking good care of them elsewhere.
The submissions were made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed in 2017 for keeping the High Court campus neat and clean. The hearing led to heated arguments between one section of lawyers in favour of the presence of stray dogs inside the court campus and those who opposed it.
Senior Counsel Satish Parasaran, R. Srinivas and a few others said, the dogs must be allowed to remain within the High Court campus but prevented from entering the court buildings. They said, the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023 must be followed and the assistance of Animal Welfare Board of India could be sought.
On the other hand, Senior Counsel V. Prakash said, it would be next to impossible to let the dogs remain on the High Court campus and yet prevent them from entering the court buildings which had multiple entry and exit points. He said, nowehere in the world one could see stray dogs roaming inside court buildings.
Madras Bar Association president M. Baskar said, the stray dogs were a menace inside the court buildings. He said, even the court staff and law interns were unable to walk on the corridors after evening hours due to the barking dogs. “I saw even a judge being chased by a dog, Your Lordships may check the CCTV footage,” he said.
After hearing all of them, the Division Bench requested the BCTNP to invite all bar associations as well as individual advocates for a discussion on the subject and submit the outcome of the meeting before the High Court within eight weeks for taking an appropriate decision.
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