The State government on Thursday told the High Court of Karnataka that it has issued a notification withdrawing with immediate effect the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (Pet dog licensing) Bylaws, 2018, after the BBMP brought to the government’s notice the difficulties in implementing them.
“Based on the request of the general public, animal lovers, various associations, and the BBMP, the government has re-examined the issue and considered it necessary to call for suggestions from all stakeholders and to re-examine the entire bylaws in the light of the input received,” stated the notification issued on Thursday by the Urban Development Department.
A copy of the notification was submitted before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Krishna S. Dixit during the hearing of public interest litigation petitions, which have termed the new bylaws as “illogical, arbitrary, and brought into force without any application of mind”.
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The BBMP (Pet dog licensing) Bylaws were notified on February 28, 2018. The BBMP on Wednesday told the court that it was revisiting the bylaws following receipt of representation from various quarters, and the court had given a 24-hour deadline to take a decision on the new bylaws.
After the bylaws came into force, several animal lovers and and associations approached the BBMP, and expressed difficulties in implementing them. The BBMP, in turn, brought the issue to the notice of the government with regard to practical difficulties in implementing the bylaws, the notification stated, while pointing out the reason for withdrawal of the new bylaws, which were issued in supersession of the rules issued in 1954.
The Bench disposed of the petitions, filed by Indira Gopala Krishna, a schoolteacher, and four non-governmental organisations led by Compassion Unlimited Plus Action while terming as “fair” the government’s decision to withdraw the bylaws to re-examine them by consulting the stakeholders. The court also said the petitioners could give constructive suggestions to the authorities while framing the new bylaws.
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The petitioners, besides raising several issues, had alleged that the list of breeds that were approved for residential flats in the bylaws was arbitrary and had been mechanically copied from a list meant for another country, and it does not contain the most common breeds of dogs such as golden retriever, beagle, and German shepherd., and the native Indian dogs.