New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre and state governments during the hearing on the stray dogs case. The top court said that for every dog bite, states have to pay compensation.
The top court said that the governments "failed miserably" to implement rules to control the stray dog menace as the problem increased exponentially.
Here's What Supreme Court Said?
"We are going to take the Union government and state governments to task. The issue has been ongoing forever. You yourself have mentioned that Parliament has been looking into it since the 1950s. It is because of the Union and state governments that the problem has multiplied 1,000 times. Complete failure on the part of the Union and state governments," the court said, as reported by India Today.
"For every man, woman and child who has lost their lives to a dog bite, we will impose heavy compensation on the government responsible," it added.
Justice Vikram Nath also reportedly said that those feeding stray dogs would also be held accountable for any injury or death due to dog bites. "And also liability to dog feeders. You take them to your house, keep them. Why should they be allowed to roam around, biting, chasing?" the apex court stated, as quoted by the media house.
What Supreme Court Said During The January 7 Hearing:
Last week, a Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N.V. Anjaria, had stated that nobody could read a dog's mind when it is in the mood to bite. While hearing the case on January 7, the top court had also questioned the petitioners in the case as to why stray dogs should not be removed from schools, hospitals, and courts.
The bench had highlighted that identifying dogs' behaviour is difficult. The bench also noted that roads have to be clear of stray dogs. It added that it was not necessary that they would bite, but they could cause accidents.
Top Court's November 7 Order:
On November 7, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N.V. Anjaria ordered that all educational institutions, hospitals, public sports complexes, bus stands, depots, and railway stations "be fenced" to prevent the entry of stray dogs. The court added that local bodies must relocate the dogs to designated shelters after vaccination and sterilisation, ensuring they are "not released back to the same spot".
Supreme Court's August 22 Order:
In its August 22 order, the top court expanded the scope of the stray dogs case beyond the confines of the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) and directed that all states and Union Territories be made parties in the matter.
In its order, the apex court modified its August 11 order, in which it had directed authorities to shift all stray dogs in Delhi-NCR to shelters.
Meanwhile, on October 27 also, the Supreme Court pulled up the state governments for not filing an affidavit complying with its August 22 order on stray dogs. The top court had said that India's image has been hit globally due to the stray dog menace.
