Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has ordered the transfer of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the issue of stray dogs and public safety to the Supreme Court, citing binding directions issued earlier by the apex court in a suo motu case on the same issue. The PIL, filed by Harshpreet Kaur and others had sought directions on issues related to stray animals. However, the HC refrained from examining the merits of the case after taking note of the Supreme Court’s order dated August 22, 2025, in Suo Motu petition titled “City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price” . In that order, the Supreme Court had directed that all writ petitions and suo motu cases pending before various High Courts on similar issues be transferred to the apex court for consolidated consideration. The Supreme Court registry was instructed to collect details of such cases from all High Courts and list them together for further directions. In its order released on Wednesday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry observed that the directions of the Supreme Court were explicit and left no scope for parallel adjudication by High Courts. Consequently, the Registry was directed to transfer the complete record of the present case to the Supreme Court, where it will be heard along with the main suo motu matter. The PIL, filed through advocate Siddharth Arora, had contended that the existing facilities, namely the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Centre and the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), do not qualify as shelters under the law and cannot be cited as evidence of compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders. Additionally, the petitioners pointed out that MC Chandigarh does not possess a valid Certificate of Project Recognition from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), which is mandatory for implementing the Animal Birth Control programme.
