PIL In Patna High Court Opposes Grant Of Tender For Street Dogs Sterilization To Organisation Allegedly Blacklisted For Animal Cruelty

The division bench comprising Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarathi was hearing a PIL filed by Peoples for Animals and Bhoori Foundation and Bhoori Foundation against grant of tender to NGO namely "Santulaan Jeev Kalyan".

Petitioners represented by Advocates Dinu Kumar and Aakriti Aishwarya claim the the NGO is banned under Section 2 (H) of the Animal Birth Control Rules and lacks the necessary project certificate, recognition for the Animal Birth Control (ABC) program. It is alleged that the NGO is involved in relocating street dogs without sterilization, ill-treating and even killing them. It is further alleged that the organisation is blacklisted from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Maharashtra but the aforesaid fact has been suppressed at the time of getting the tender by the Patna Municipal Corporation.

The Patna Municipal Corporation had issued a tender on January 12, setting a rate of Rs. 1130 per dog for various tasks, including catching stray dogs, birth control, anti-rabies vaccination, sterilization, and vaccination.

The petitioners seek a Vigilance inquiry into the Municipal Corporation's action of allowing sterilization and immunization of street dogs by an NGO without the required Project Recognition certificate from the Animal Welfare Board of India. They alleged that public funds were being misused, and the corporation was not taking appropriate action despite a letter from the Secretary, Animal Welfare Board of India.

They also seek a direction to Patna Municipal Corporation and its authorities to ensure that sterilization and immunization of street dogs are carried out in compliance with the Animal Birth Control Rules 2023 or the rules in place at the time when respondent no.8 was awarded the tender.

The next hearing on this matter is scheduled for October 7, where the Municipal Corporation Commissioner is expected to provide the court with further details regarding the tender allocation.

Counsels For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shashankdhar Shekhar, Advocate Mr. Dinu Kumar, Advocate Ms. Akritya Aishwarya, Advocate

Counsels For the Respondent/s : Mr. Raghwanand, GA11 Mr. Rajnish Shandilya, A.C. to G.A.11 Mr. Prasoon Sinha, Advocate

Case Title: Peoples For Animals represented by Vasudha Gupta and Another vs. State of Bihar and Others

Case No.: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.13227 of 2023

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