New Delhi, April 6 The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea seeking directions to authorities to ensure that stray cattle is kept away from national and state highways across the country.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Centre and others, including the states, Union Territories, and the Animal Welfare Board of India, seeking their responses on the plea within four weeks.
The bench observed that several states were charging a 10% cow cess but were doing nothing.
The counsel appearing for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) told the bench that the apex court has already reserved its order in the case of stray dogs, which also covers the issue of stray animals entering highways.
The counsel appearing for the petitioner, 'Lawyers For Human Rights International', said that the issue would largely be covered by the verdict in the stray dogs case, but there were certain other aspects raised in this petition.
The bench issued notice on the plea and posted it for hearing after four weeks.
The plea has sought directions for the authorities to frame and enforce uniform national guidelines to prevent cattle intrusion on highways.
It sought directions for the mandatory fencing of national highways and expressways, particularly on accident-prone stretches.
It also sought the establishment of scientifically managed cattle shelters/gaushalas with earmarked funding, and the imposition of strict penal liability for the illegal abandonment of cattle.
Besides other directions, the plea also sought the formulation of a no-fault compensation framework for victims of accidents caused by stray cattle.
On January 29, the top court told the NHAI to consider asking road construction concessionaires to set up a 'gaushala' (cowshed) under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to take care of stray animals entering the highways.
The apex court had reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions seeking modification of its order of November 7, 2022, on the relocation and sterilization of stray dogs.
Taking note of the "alarming rise" in dog bite incidents within institutional areas such as educational institutions, hospitals, and railway stations, the apex court on November 7, 2022, directed the immediate relocation of stray canines to designated shelters after due sterilization and vaccination.
It had also said that stray dogs picked up shall not be released back to their original places.
The court had directed authorities to ensure the removal of all cattle and other stray animals from the state highways, national highways, and expressways.
The top court was then hearing a suo motu case, initiated on July 28, 2022, over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.
