Gurugram: Victims of dog bites in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh will get a minimum compensation of Rs 10,000 per tooth mark on their body, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled.
In case their flesh is pulled out, the bitten person will be entitled to a minimum of Rs 20,000 per 0.2 cm of the wound, the court added as it disposed of 193 petitions for payment of compensation to the victims of incidents and accidents that occur due to animals on public roads and streets.
In case a person dies in such incidents, their legal heirs will be paid Rs 5 lakh as compensation. For permanent incapacitation, as determined by a civil surgeon, the compensation will be Rs 2 lakh, the court said.
The compensation will be payable whether the animal is a pet, a stray, wild, or deserted, and the onus of the payout will be on the administration — panchayati raj bodies in rural areas and municipal agencies in urban jurisdictions, with the state government stepping in if the former lack the funds.
However, the court has said the state government will have the right to recover the sum from “the defaulting agencies, instrumentalities of the state, or the private person, if any”.
This means that if an injury is caused by a pet animal in a public space, the government can claim the compensation amount from their owners.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj on 18 August this year, but it has been uploaded on the website of the Punjab and Haryana High Court now.
Among other things, the court has directed the states of Haryana and Punjab and the Union territory of Chandigarh — areas under its jurisdiction — to set up district-level panels called ‘animal attack accident compensation committees’ to determine the quantum of compensation.
According to the court, the panels will include the respective deputy commissioner as chairperson, and the superintendent of police/deputy superintendent of police (traffic), sub-divisional magistrate, district transport officer, representative of the chief medical officer, and deputy director (animal husbandry) as members.
Once the requisite documents are submitted, the committee will have to clear the award within four months of the filing of claims.
The court has directed that copies of the judgment be immediately submitted to the offices of the principal secretary (home) and directors general of police of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh for immediate action and compliance.
The 193 cases before the court spanned seven years, from 2016 to 2023.
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‘Responsibility of state’
The high court said statutory provisions as well as precedents — from the Supreme Court as well as other high courts — clearly establish that the state as well as its agencies and instrumentalities, including the National Highways Authority of India (which oversees highways), hold the responsibility of keeping their streets/roads safe, including from the menace of stray/wild animals, including dogs.
“People cannot be left to fend for themselves for a state failure. The rights of the claimants stand further crystallised since the state has been collecting road tax/user fees from the persons using the highways and roads and the local bodies are also collecting various types of taxes/fees/cess from the residents and are entitled to levy penalties/fines on the owners who have not been able to impound/keep their animals in chains and/or control,” the order says.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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