In an unprecedented order, the Uttarakhand high court on Thursday directed that any victim of a dog bite be given Rs 2 lakh as compensation. It also mandated that the compensation amount, which is to be equally shared by the respective municipal corporation of a district and the state government, should be paid within a week of the person being bitten.
The order, delivered by a division bench of justices Alok Singh and Sarvesh Kumar Gupta, included those bitten by monkeys and apes in its ambit as well. For persons injured by stray cattle, the court ordered a compensation of Rs 1 lakh in case of simple injury, and Rs 2 lakh if the person was seriously injured.
Incidentally, the court had in January taken note of reports of over 4,000 cases of dog bites being recorded in the last three years in Nainital town alone. It had then asked the state and the municipality "to take appropriate steps immediately for the construction of dog shelters, wherein stray dogs can be kept to avoid cases of dog biting which are increasing day by day." It had asked civic authorities "to come up with a proposal to rein in monkeys and gibbons." Interestingly, five people, including the wife of a senior judiciary member, fell victim to stray dog bites on the day the HC order was delivered.
Originally published in the Times of India
0 comments:
Post a Comment