Today, the Supreme Court in its street dogs Judgement said that, states may be held liable to pay compensation for every dog bite, death, or injury suffered by children or the elderly due to inaction.

The bench of Justice Vikram Nath observed that individuals who feed stray dogs could also be held accountable, remarking that the court was increasingly being treated as a “public platform” to air grievances rather than a forum for adjudication.

"We need to spend half a day with the States and Union. To see whether they have a plan of action or not. We just want implementation of statutory provision. Allow us to do that. This has become a public platform rather than a court proceeding. For every dog bite, for every death, we will be likely fixing heavy compensation for states for not making requisite arrangements. And also liability to dog feeders," the top court bench said.

The remark was made in response to submissions by advocate Menaka Guruswamy, who described the stray dogs issue as an “emotional matter.”

"Emotions so far seem to be only for dogs," the bench told her. To this, Guruswamy responded: "That's not the case. I am equally concerned about humans".

"Good. Do it, take them (dogs) to your house. Why should dogs be littering around, biting, scaring people?" Justice Nath questioned.

The last hearing in the stray dogs matter was held on Friday, January 9, when the Supreme Court bench advised counsel that it did not want the proceedings to devolve into a contest between videos of animal cruelty and dog attack incidents.

The court had directed local municipal authorities to conduct regular inspections of all premises to ensure that no stray dog habitats exist. It observed that the recurrence of dog bite incidents within institutional areas, including sports complexes, pointed not merely to administrative apathy but to a “systemic failure” to safeguard such premises from preventable hazards.