New Delhi, Jan. 24 -- A Delhi court on Friday directed the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to conduct a comprehensive, timebound inquiry into the functioning of the Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre (SGACC), after finding that the organisation had systematically violated animal cruelty laws by illegally taking custody of 10 dogs from a man and selling them to third parties without a magistrate's order or veterinary inspection.

In a 31-page order, additional sessions judge Surabhi Sharma Vats of the Karkardooma courts dismissed SGACC's revision plea, observing: "Such action (by the centre) is ex facie illegal and amounts to usurpation of judicial powers by a private entity, aided by the police, in complete disregard of statutory proce...