Supreme Court Raps Maneka Gandhi Over Stray Dog Remarks, Says She Committed Contempt

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed strong displeasure at remarks made by former Union minister Maneka Gandhi criticising its earlier orders on the stray dog issue, observing that she had “committed contempt of court”. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria, while hearing the ongoing matter, said Gandhi had made sweeping comments without due consideration and appeared to have attacked “everyone” in the process. The judges, however, said they were not initiating contempt proceedings against her, citing the court’s “magnanimity”.

During the hearing, the bench questioned senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who represented Gandhi, on whether he had listened to her podcast and noted her “body language”. Justice Nath told counsel that while he had asked the court to be circumspect in its remarks, Gandhi’s own statements were far from restrained. The bench said she had made “all kinds of remarks against everybody without even thinking”, indicating a pattern of irresponsible commentary.

Justice Mehta also asked what steps Gandhi had taken, as a former Union minister, to ensure adequate budgetary allocation or policy support to address the stray dog problem. In response, Ramachandran said budgetary allocation was a policy matter and added that he had previously represented even Ajmal Kasab, the convicted terrorist in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The bench responded sharply. “Ajmal Kasab did not commit contempt of court but your client has,” Justice Nath remarked.