The Supreme Court on Thursday said that the problems related to the street dog population in Delhi are because of the inaction of local authorities, Live Law reported.

The court made the observation while reserving its order on pleas challenging the directions passed by a two-judge bench on Monday to capture and shift street dogs in Delhi, Noida and Gurugram to shelters.

While hearing the matter on Thursday, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath said: “This is happening because of the inaction of the municipal corporation.”

“Local authorities are not doing what they should be doing,” Live Law quoted Nath as saying. “They should be here taking responsibility.”

The suo motu case on stray dogs was shifted to the three-judge bench after some lawyers told Chief Justice BR Gavai that the directions issued on Monday conflicted with previous orders of other benches, the legal news outlet reported.

On Monday, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had directed authorities to immediately begin relocating street dogs, build shelters for 5,000 to 6,000 animals within six weeks and report back within eight weeks.

The court took up the matter on July 28 after reports of dog bites leading to rabies in the National Capital Region.

It ordered that dogs be picked up from all areas, particularly vulnerable parts of the city. It also allowed the authorities to use force when necessary to capture the dogs.

The shelters, the court said, must have enough personnel to sterilise and immunise the dogs, who should not be released into public places.

“If any individual or organisation comes in the way of picking stray dogs or rounding them up, we will proceed to take action against any such resistance,” the bench had said at the time.

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