Union govt appeals against single judge's order, allowing dog imports

CHENNAI: The Union government made an appeal in the Madras High Court (MHC) against the single judge's order which set aside the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification banning dog imports.

The Chief Justice of the MHC SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy have directed the registry to list the matter on November 8, after hearing a submission made out by the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ARL Sundaresan.

The ASG submitted that the single judge issued an erroneous order by allowing the dog imports.

Justice Anita Sumanth on June 9 set aside the DFT's notification which banning dog imports by citing that the right to own as a pet for a commercial purpose such as training or ethical breeding cannot be a matter of absolute ban except if the dog is diseased or poses a threat to public health and safety.

The petitioners CV Sudarshan represented The Kennel Club of India and CR Bhaalakkrishna Bhat represented The Madras Canine Club sought to quash the notification issued by The Director General of Foreign Trade in 2016 and direct the Union government not to prevent dog lovers from lawfully importing dogs into India for dog shows, as pets and for breeding purposes.

According to the petitioners, the Notification has been issued by The Director General of Foreign Trade, who does not have the requisite power under Section 3 of the Foreign Trade Development and Regulation) Act, 1992.

Further, the petitioners claimed that only 1 percent of the breeds known today, and 9 percent of the existing dog breeds have been designed by humans. The hybrids caused by interbreeding and evolutionary changes are quite different from the primary and native breeds of dogs.

After all the submissions the judge set aside the impugned notification and directed the Tamil Nadu Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Fisheries, and Fishermen Welfare Department to formulate a breeding policy and rules for the regulation of breeding in the state.