Stray Dogs Case: Supreme Court Refuses To Exempt Bihar Chief Secretary From Appearing Before It On Nov 3

"There is Election Commission which would take care. Don't worry. Let the chief secretary come," a bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta told the counsel appearing for Bihar.

Assembly elections in Bihar are scheduled on November 6 and 11 and votes will be counted on November 14.

While hearing the stray dogs matter on October 27, the Apex Court had directed the chief secretaries of all the states, except West Bengal and Telangana, to remain present before it on November 3 to explain why compliance affidavits were not filed despite the court's August 22 order.

Today, the counsel appearing for Bihar mentioned the matter before the bench.

"Your lordships have directed all the defaulting chief secretaries to remain personally present on (November) 3. There is election in the state of Bihar," the counsel said.

The bench said the chief secretary does not have to do anything in the state election.

When the state's counsel said some other secretary may be directed to appear before the court, the bench said, "No. Let the other secretaries do their work there".

On October 27, the Apex Court had slammed the states and union territories, which had not filed their compliance affidavits in the stray dogs matter, and said continuous incidents were happening and the country was being "shown as down" in foreign nations.

It had noted that except West Bengal, Telangana and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), none of the other states and UTs had filed their compliance affidavits.

"As most of the states and union territories have not responded, the chief secretaries of all the states and union territories other than the states of West Bengal and Telangana shall remain present before this court on November 3, 2025 at 10.30 AM along with their respective explanations as to why compliance affidavits have not been filed," the bench had said.

The Apex Court was hearing a suo motu case relating to stray dogs.

On August 22, the Apex Court expanded the scope of the stray dogs case beyond the confines of Delhi-National Capital Region, and directed that all states and UTs be made parties in the matter.

It had directed the municipal authorities to file an affidavit of compliance with complete statistics of resources like dog pounds, veterinarians, dog-catching personnel, and specially-modified vehicles and cages available as on date for the purpose of compliance of the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules.

The bench had also impleaded the states and UTs in the matter while observing that application of ABC Rules was uniform all over India.

The suo motu case was initiated on July 28 over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.

With PTI Inputs