Bihar SIR, Stray Dogs in Delhi, JSW-BPSL, Sedition, J&K and More

“Both the Supreme Court and the high court are constitutional court, and so far as the constitutional scheme is concerned, they are neither inferior nor superior to each other”

— Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai during Independence Day celebration.

Court Order Polarises the Country on the Issue of Stray Dogs
An order passed by a division-bench of the Supreme Court on the issue of stray dogs in the national capital dominated the online discourse, made headlines and polarised the public.

The court, on its own volition, took note of the increasing concern around stray dogs and potential cases of rabies and directed for all the street dogs in NCR to be rounded up by the authorities and relocated to shelters and hounds. The court also went a step ahead and said that any person or organisation preventing this exercise will be liable to be acted against under the law. 

This order caused a uproar with many animal rights activists flagging concerns. There exist little government-run shelters and pounds that can accommodate the thousands of dogs proposed to be rounded up. The concern around rabies cases can be dealt with through a more humane approach of sterilization and immunization drives, the activists have pointed out. 

With people taking to the streets to protest this order, not just in Delhi but also other cities, in solidarity, a petitioner approached the court to highlight that this order was in fact opposed to what the top court has said in the past about dealing with stray animals with humanity. 

The chief justice of India who is the administrative head of the top court was quick to place the case before a three-judge bench which heard the case, at considerable length two days after the earlier order was passed, and reserved its order. The main prayer before the new set of judges was to pause the rounding up of all community dogs. 

While the activism and demonstration continues, all eyes are now on the apex court.

The Week That Was
Courts

• Zostel appeals in Delhi High Court against quashing or arbitral award in its dispute with Oyo
• Supreme Court asks election commission to publish names of excluded voters in Bihar along with reason for non-inclusion
• No relief from Supreme Court for Pernod Ricard in trademark case
• Supreme Court stays GST penalty of 2.74 billion rupees on Patanjali Ayurved Ltd
• A public interest plea challenges detention of Bengali Muslims in national capital on grounds of being foreigners
• The government seeks time from the apex court on plea that seeks statehood for Jammu & Kashmir
• Bombay High Court sets up a committee to look into the health impact of feeding pigeons in public spaces
• Hero MotoCorp gets interim relief from Delhi High Court in trademark case over its electric scooter
• A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court reserves its order in the stray dog issue in national capital region after a two-judge bench had directed for rounding up all stray dogs in two months
• PIL filed in Supreme Court seeking probe into alleged fraud after publication of Viceroy report on Vedanta
• Petition in Supreme Court challenges validity of Section 52 of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita after sedition law of the Indian Penal Code was suspended 
• Delhi High Court bars rogue websites from streaming licenced content of FanCode
• Supreme Court says no coercive action to be taken against over 10 years old diesel and over 15 years old petrol vehicles in Delhi
• Oyo moves Delhi High Court against arbitral award in case with Lenskart
• Supreme Court reserves its order in the JSW-Bhushan Power case after three hearings

Others

• Lok Sabha Speaker announces a three-member committee to probe Justice Yashwant Varma’s case
• Senior Advocate Harish Salve appointed distinguished professor at NLU Delhi

The Big Listings

• August 20: NCLT in Ahmedabad to hear petition for Vedanta’s demerge
• August 20: Supreme Court to hear Flipkart’s appeal against a high court which affirmed CCI probe into the company

* The dates of hearing can change and a concrete list is prepared just a day before

Legal Moves: 

• Three partners elevated at Vertices Partners
• Mohit Lahoty joins ThinkLaw as partner
• Three partners leave Argus to join CMS IndusLaw
• Gauhar Mirza leaves CAM to join Saraf & Partners
• Three partners leave SAM to join Trilegal 
• Shikha Rajput joins JSW Greentech
• George Varghese joins TLH Advocates as partner
• Amrita Tonk rejoins CMS Induslaw as partner
• Seven made equity partners at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas