The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an NGO’s petition regarding Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s alleged remark that the court had given a “free hand” to eliminate stray dogs.
A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta told advocate Anil Kumar Mishra, who mentioned the matter on behalf of the NGO ‘Animals Are People Too’, that it could not be taken up for urgent hearing.
The bench observed, “Just because a Chief Minister makes a statement, does that mean we have to change our order.” The bench said the petitioner should approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this case.
The bench said that strict compliance of its order is to be ensured by the High Courts. It added that the matter has already been assigned to the High Court and the petitioner should approach it there.
After the Supreme Court’s May 19 order, the NGO’s counsel alleged that Punjab CM had tweeted that the top court had given a free hand to kill stray dogs.
The counsel further said after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Punjab government would launch a campaign starting tomorrow to eliminate stray and “dangerous” stray dogs that threaten the safety of children and pedestrians, allegedly thanking the Supreme Court for the order.
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