The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Kerala Chief Secretary on a contempt petition filed by the husband of a dog-bite victim alleging that the State has not paid over ₹7 lakh in compensation to his family for the personal loss.
A Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked the Chief Secretary to respond to the petition filed by Jose Sebastian that despite giving an undertaking to the Supreme Court in March to pay the compensation in four weeks, the State government had not done so.
“In February 2017, the Justice Siri Jagan panel passed an order to grant ₹10.5 lakh compensation to Dolly’s [victim] family. After deducting ₹2.4 lakh, about ₹7.8 lakh remains to be paid by the State government. In March 2017, the government assured the Supreme Court by undertaking that it will implement the Supreme Court-appointed Justice S. Siri Jagan Committee report and will be paying the compensation within four weeks... however, the government is not paying the compensation despite its undertaking and affidavits,” advocate V.K. Biju, counsel for Mr. Sebastian, said.
The court has specified that the Chief Secretary need not be personally present in the court for now in the contempt case.
Mr. Biju submitted that there were about two lakh stray dog attack cases in Kerala, which had even claimed lives.
The Supreme Court has been hearing a bunch of petitions highlighting the menace in the State. Its response so far has been to strike a balance between compassion for the animals and providing safety to human lives.
The Centre has already said it is essentially the job of the State government to protect and rehabilitate victims.
