In a solace to man whose 22-month-old son had died due to attack by stray dogs four years ago, the High Court of Karnataka has directed the Belagavi zilla panchayat to pay ₹10 lakh compensation to him while holding that local bodies are duty bound to protect citizens from such attacks by stray dogs.
Also, the Court declared that its directions, issued to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in Master Jishnu’s case in 2012, to check the menace of stray dogs in Bengaluru city are applicable to all the local bodies, including zilla, taluk and grama panchayat or other municipal authorities, in Karnataka.
Since the attack by stray dogs in BBMP area cannot be different from an attack by stray dogs in an area governed by other local bodies, the obligations imposed on the BBMP equally apply to other local bodies, the Court made it clear.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order while disposing of a petition filed by 32-year-old Yusub, a mason from Balekundri village in Belagavi district. The petitioner had sought a compensation of ₹25 lakh from the State authorities for the death of his younger son, Abbas Ali Yusub, who was mauled by a group of stray dogs when he was playing near his house on November 11, 2018.
Rejecting the contention of Belagavi zilla panchayat and Balekundri grama panchayat that they cannot be held responsible for the death, the Court made it clear that the local authorities are held to be liable under public law remedy for any injury/death caused to any citizen on account of attack by street dogs within their jurisdiction.
While directing the zilla panchayat to pay the compensation amount with 6% interest from the date of the death, the Court also said that petitioner is entitled for reimbursement of medical expenses on production of bills. The Court said the zilla panchayat will have to pay ₹20,000 as cost of litigation to the petitioner.
