Orissa HC directs Puri Municipality to pay ₹10 lakh for dog bite death

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

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.