3 min readChandigarhMar 13, 2026 08:14 AM IST
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday directed closer monitoring of the functioning of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Chandigarh, after concerns were raised over unpaid staff salaries and inadequate nutrition for dogs housed at the shelter.
Hearing two contempt petitions, Justice Alka Sarin ordered that advocate Shruti Sharma, who has been appointed as the local commissioner, be given unrestricted access to the CCTV footage of the SPCA facility to verify whether directions regarding the upkeep and treatment of animals are being complied with.
The court said the footage accessed by the local commissioner must not be shared with the petitioners or made public or posted on social media.
During the hearing, the court was informed that some SPCA employees had not been paid salaries, which was cited as a reason for neglect of animals. Counsel for respondent Nishant Kumar Yadav produced government orders showing that financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh was sanctioned on May 8, 2025, and Rs 70 lakh released on November 13, 2025 to the SPCA.
Appearing for the SPCA, counsel said there had been administrative issues in releasing salaries but informed the court that payments for January 2026 had been made and February salaries would be released within a day or two.
The court was also told that volunteers would be allowed to assist at the facility after submitting basic details, including photographs and identity proof, along with an undertaking to follow standard operating procedures. The parties agreed that a maximum of five volunteers would be permitted at a time and photography or videography would be allowed between 2 pm and 3 pm.
During the proceedings, the petitioners placed on record an audited balance sheet of the SPCA showing annual expenditure of Rs 1.22 crore for the year ending March 31, 2024, of which Rs 1.09 crore was spent on salaries, while only Rs 3.53 lakh was spent on animal feed and Rs 57,565 on medical expenses.
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The local commissioner’s report also included photographs indicating the type of food being served and injured dogs at the facility.
On a query from the court, doctors Prateek Balana and Gaurav Lakhanpal said a dog weighing about 20 kg requires around 150 grams of protein daily, equivalent to four to five eggs. The court observed that with around 47 dogs in the shelter and only about 45 to 47 eggs mixed in the entire morning and evening feed, the nutritional requirement of the animals was not being met.
Justice Sarin directed the SPCA to file an affidavit detailing steps that would be taken to ensure the proper nutritional needs of the animals are fulfilled.
Senior advocate Anand Chhibbar with Ateevraj Sandhu appeared for the petitioner in one of the petitions, while Anurag Chopra with Himani Jamwal represented the petitioner in the connected case. Viraj Gandhi, junior panel counsel, appeared for respondent No.1, while Armaan Saggar represented the SPCA. Siddharth Arora and Navraj Narang appeared for an applicant in an intervention plea.
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The matter has been listed for further hearing on April 7.
