5 months ago
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The Orissa High Court has directed the Puri Municipality to pay compensation of ₹10 lakh to parents of a child, who lost lives followings bites by a pack of dogs in Puri in 2016.
A four-year-old boy died soon after a pack of dogs mauled him while he was playing near his house in Jagannath Colony under the Kumbharpada Police Station of Puri on December 1, 2016.
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One Bibhuti Charan Mohanty filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition with the Orissa High Court, seeking adequate compensation for the parents of the deceased child and making the civic body accountable for the unfortunate incident.
Adjudicating the case, a division Bench of the High Court, comprising B. R. Sarangi, acting Chief Justice, and Justice M. S. Raman, cited similar judgments delivered by the High Courts of Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.
“In the present case, the street dogs attack within the Puri Municipality area can be regulated by the provisions of the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950. As such, the cleanliness of the town and maintenance of the stray dogs and pigs are the statutory responsibility of the municipal Authorities,” the Bench observed in the judgment.
“This court is of the considered view that the father of the deceased child is entitled to get compensation of ₹10 lakh due to death caused by the street dog bite. Accordingly, this court directs the Puri Municipality to pay ₹10 lakh as compensation to the father of the deceased within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of this judgment, failing which the amount will carry interest at the rate 6% per annum from the date of passing of the judgment till such payment is made,” noted judges in their judgment.
Earlier this year, the Orissa High Court had taken strong exceptions to a cerebral palsy student of the National Law University, Odisha (NLUO) facing dog attacks 15 times in one month and directed the Municipal Corporation of Cuttack to relocate all stray dogs from the campus within 24 hours.
