The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to urgently list an application challenging a circular reportedly issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) regarding the picking up of stray dogs.

The application was mentioned before a bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi, but the bench refused to take it up on priority. The judges noted that a three-judge bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath has already reserved orders in the larger stray dog matter.

When counsel clarified that the fresh application pertained to a connected case listed tomorrow alongside the pending writ petition, Justice Maheshwari remarked, “In reserved cases, we can’t…”, indicating that the matter must await the reserved judgment.

Earlier, on August 14, the bench led by Justice Nath had reserved orders on pleas seeking a stay on the August 11 directions of a two-judge bench which had ordered that stray dogs in the Delhi-NCR region be shifted to shelter homes. During that hearing, the bench was informed that authorities had already begun removing dogs even before the August 11 order was uploaded.

Expressing concern, Justice Nath observed that “local authorities are not doing what they should be doing. They should be here taking responsibility. Everyone who has come here to file intervention should take responsibility.”