Remove stray dogs or face contempt action: Former bar assocation president writes to Gujarat high court administration

Ahmedabad: Former president of the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association and senior counsel Asim Pandya has once again appealed to the HC administration to free the court campus of stray dog menace, failing which he will file a contempt petition for non-compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions on controlling the stray dog menace.

Pandya had earlier requested the HC administration to remove stray dogs from the campus for the safety of lawyers, litigants and court staff. In a letter written to HC’s registrar general, Pandya has alleged non-compliance with the SC directions issued on May 19. “To the best of my information, more than 25 dogs are residing in the court building and its precinct.... These dogs pose a serious threat to the life and movement of people attending our high court. It is a matter of your knowledge that one advocate was bitten a few months back by one dog in the high court building. Dogs are found not only in lawyers’ chambers but in the court building on every floor. Dogs are defecating and urinating in the lawyers’ chamber building, court corridors and near libraries. It is causing serious hygiene issue,” his letter reads.

The lawyer demanded prohibition of feeding within the court building and near lawyers’ chambers until removal is completed and proposed a temporary, dedicated feeding space away from public areas, referencing Rule 20 of the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023. The letter further sought affidavits from those feeding dogs, accepting “tortious liability” for attacks or bites, citing paragraphs of the SC order.

Pandya requested the registrar general to register a suo motu petition for redressal of the problem. He further stated, “If no steps are taken in response to this letter, I would be constrained to initiate appropriate proceeding, including a proceeding for contempt of court against the persons responsible for the management of the Gujarat high court.”