'Vocal minority vs silent majority': Larger SC bench hears stray dogs case; stay on order sought

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has to intervene to check the menace of stray dogs in the country as the three-judge SC bench commenced hearing in a matter related to stray dogs in the Delhi-National Capital Region.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that it is contest between a vocal minority vs a silent majority who are suffering because of dog bites.

A batch of top senior advocates led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal, who were present for the cause of stray dogs and pleaded to the SC that the court's order passed on Monday to catch stray dogs has to be stayed.

Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Justice B R Gavai withdrew the case from a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan and posted it for rehearing on Thursday before the three-judge special bench comprising Justices Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria.

Gavai's announcement came after public outrage over the apex court's directive that it passed on Monday, ordering to removal of all stray dogs and putting them in shelters by Delhi government and civic bodies of Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad.

The two-judge bench noted that there was an "extremely grim" situation due to stray dog bites resulting in rabies.