The alacrity with which the SC reviewed petitions on the stray dog issue is in stark contrast to bail applications of nine of the 18 accused in the Delhi riots case languishing for five years

(Clockwise from top left) Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider, Athar Khan, Gulfisha Khatoon, and Khalid Saifi, six of the nine accused whose bail petitions in the 2020 Delhi riot case were rejected on September 2

I thought there would be an outcry against the inherent injustice of the Delhi High Court rejecting, on September 2, the bail applications of nine of the 18 accused in the 2020 Delhi riot case. My hope sprang from the popular anger expressed against the Supreme Court ordering, on August 11, the municipal authorities of Delhi and its adjacent cities to permanently remove stray dogs from their localities. My expectation was belied. It isn’t only out of bitterness that I state: dogs have a better chance of securing justice than Muslims.

The fury over permanently removing stray dogs presumably prompted the Supreme Court into posting for an early hearing of the review petitions filed against its August 11 order. On August 22, the Supreme Court said stray dogs must be returned to the very areas from where they were captured, after they had been sterilised, dewormed and vaccinated. The apex court took just 11 days........

© Midday