The High Court on Wednesday awarded a compensation of Rs. 6 lakh to the wife of the youth who was mauled by a tiger in the National Zoological Park in 2014 after he fell in his enclosure.
The HC held that the zoo was liable to pay the compensation as it had not taken adequate precautions to stop anyone from climbing into the enclosure despite knowing that the feline was a dangerous animal.
A bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath awarded the compensation to the wife of 22-year-old Maqsood, who had climbed into the tiger’s enclosure on September 23, 2014 and was mauled to death by it.
The woman had sought a compensation of Rs. 50 lakh.
The court said the zoo was in clear breach of statutory duties provided under the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, and other regulations.
‘Inadequate precautions’
“In our opinion, there were inadequate precautions taken by the zoo to guard against any visitor climbing the stand-off barrier, which is not very high. Further, there was enough time, which as per the zoo authority was five minutes, during which authorities could have saved the life of Maqsood. A collapsible rope ladder could have been dropped to help Maqsood climb up the moat wall. But, there was none available,” the bench said in its verdict.
