Orissa High Court Directs Cuttack Municipal Corporation To Relocate All Stray Dogs From NLU-Odisha Campus Within 24 Hrs

The Orissa High Court has directed the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) to relocate all the stray dogs wandering around the campus of the National Law University Odisha, Cuttack (NLUO) within 24 hours.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Subhasis Talapatra and Justice Savitri Ratho passed the urgent order in the wake of repeated attacks on a first year student of the institution Aditya Roy Chowdhury, who suffers from cerebral palsy and 65% disability.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by the law school wherein it was averred that the student has been chased by the stray dogs 15 times and bitten 7 times within the last one month. He was last attacked on August 26, 2023. He had to take anti-rabies injection each time after the attack.

Senior Advocate PK Rath appearing for the University informed the Court that the student has been so deeply affected by the attacks that he is suffering from acute anxiety and unstable blood pressure. His mental and physical health has so much been periled that he had to be taken to hospital on August 27, 2023.

It was further submitted that the dogs are not original habitants of the University and they have migrated from nearby locations like Naraj and Brajabiharipur. It was pleaded that unless those dogs are relocated to their original habitats, normalcy would not return to the campus.

It was also submitted on behalf of the University that due to the mating season, the dogs have become even more aggressive. Thus, they urged the Court to direct the CMC to relocate the dogs to their original locations following the guidelines issued by the Animal Welfare Board of India.

“From the averments, it has transpired that 15-20 stray dogs had been involved in attacks, biting and chasing Aditya Roy Chowdhury and the security staffs who rushed to rescue him,” the Court observed.

After hearing the counsel for the CMC, the Court was of the opinion that as both the parties have reached the consensus that the dogs should be relocated, an urgent direction should be passed to the authorities in that regard to bring back normalcy in the campus.

“Having regard to gravity of the situation and the consensus that is formed between the counsel for the petitioner and the opposite party, we direct the Commissioner, Cuttack Municipal Corporation to engage the concerned squad under supervision of the Health Officer for relocating all the stray dogs from the campus of the National Law University of Odisha within 24 hours from now,” the Court ordered.

The CMC was directed to file a compliance report after relocating the dogs within 24 hours.

Case Title: The National Law University of Odisha v. Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Cuttack

Case No.: W.P.(C) No. 28155 of 2023

Order Dated: August 28, 2023

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. P.K. Rath, Senior Advocate assisted by Ms. S. Das, Advocate

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr. Pradipta Kumar Mohanty, Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Pranay Mohanty, Advocate

Click Here To Read/Download Order