On Friday (31st October), the Supreme Court of India reiterated its earlier order that Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories (UTs) have to appear physically before it on 3rd November this year.
A 2-Judge Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta made the apex court’s stance clear after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested exemption from in-person appearance of Chief Secretaries and sought appearance via video conferencing mode.
During the hearing, Justice Vikram Nath remarked, “When we require them to come and file compliance affidavit, they are just sleeping over it. No respect for the order of the court. Then alright, Let them come, we will deal with them.”
“Your officers don’t read newspapers? They don’t read social media? They want a formal notice to be issued to them?” he added.
The apex court pointed out that it was trying to resolve the stray dog menace that should have been addressed by respective Municipal Corporation and State governments.
On Monday (27th October), the Supreme Court had directed Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs to appear before it on 3rd Novemeber and explain reason for failure to file compliance affidavits in the stray dog menace case.
Only the Chief Secretaries of Telangana and West Bengal are exempted from this directive.
