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Dadar Kabutarkhana is amongst the 44 feeding spots where the civic body has initiated action against pigeon feeding. (Express Photo by Akash Patil)
The Supreme Court Monday refused to intervene with the Bombay High Court order directing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to lodge FIRs against persons feeding pigeons “illegally” and in “defiant” manner at Dadar (West) and other kabutarkhanas (feeding areas) despite a ban. The high court, in its earlier orders, had also declined to grant interim relief in this regard.
A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi said that it did not want simultaneous proceedings to go on before the apex court as well as the high court, and that those aggrieved can approach the high court seeking modification of the July 30 order. “Parallel indulgence by this Court is not proper,” it said.
On July 24, the high court had sought reports from an expert doctor and the BMC on the health hazards associated with feeding pigeons in the open. Passing the order on July 30, it said that if people “don’t want to follow the rule of law, then the law should catch up with them.”
The court said that during the next hearing it will ascertain claims of the entire Dadar Kabutarkhana area being a heritage structure, and continued the interim order of not demolishing heritage kabutarkhanas.
The bench said “concern today was of paramount public health and the menace of the congregation of pigeons at kabutarkhana,” which was continued due to persons ‘illegally’ feeding pigeons.
“We direct municipal machinery to maintain hygiene, cleanliness at these kabutarkhanas so that there is no nuisance to public at large,” the high court noted.
The bench permitted the BMC’s designated officers to lodge First Information Reports (FIR) or criminal complaints against errant persons who in “defiant” manner continue to feed pigeons at Dadar and other areas against the earlier order, for offences of breach of public policy, public nuisance and spread of infection and diseases dangerous to human life under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
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“It is very serious. Passersby have to hold handkerchiefs (at Dadar). The (errant) persons can be traced, located based on photographs and video. There should be serious prosecution and arrest too. They think they can get away with this…,” the bench orally remarked.
The court also directed the BMC to implement strict measures and immediately install specialised CCTV cameras to capture activities such as people throwing grains in such areas and deploy beat marshals/officers at such sites.
It further said that the BMC can cover the kabutarkhana areas with appropriate nets and other materials to prevent the congregation of pigeons and allow them to “naturally survive like other birds in Mumbai.”
The court also asked local police stations to provide protection to BMC officers discharging their duties, and for personnel to be deployed in shifts for the entire day.
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