On 28th June, the Supreme Court of India took suo motu cognisance of a disturbing media report detailing the rise in rabies deaths caused by stray dog attacks. The report highlighted rabies deaths in children and the elderly.
Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of a media report highlighting deaths caused by rabies due to stray dog attacks on children and the elderly.
— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) July 28, 2025
Bench: Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan #SupremeCourt pic.twitter.com/sz92cojZBl
A Bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan expressed grave concern after reading the report titled “City hounded by strays and kids pay price.” Justice Pardiwala remarked that the contents of the report were “extremely troubling”. The report cited numerous incidents from both urban and peripheral regions where dog bites had led to fatal rabies infections. The report highlighted recent death of Chhavi Sharma due to rabies among others.
The court observed, “Ultimately, it is infants and senior citizens who are falling prey to this deadly disease.” The court directed the registry to treat the matter as a suo motu writ petition. The order, along with the attached news article, will now be placed before the Chief Justice of India for further directions, signalling a serious judicial intervention into the ongoing stray dog menace.
OpIndia is doing a series on the stray dog menace in India which can be checked here.
