In a solace to man whose 22-month-old son had died due to attack by stray dogs four years ago, the High Court of Karnataka has directed the Belagavi zilla panchayat to pay ₹10 lakh compensation to him while holding that local bodies are duty bound to protect citizens from such attacks by stray dogs.
Also, the Court declared that its directions, issued to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in Master Jishnu’s case in 2012, to check the menace of stray dogs in Bengaluru city are applicable to all the local bodies, including zilla, taluk and grama panchayat or other municipal authorities, in Karnataka.
Since the attack by stray dogs in BBMP area cannot be different from an attack by stray dogs in an area governed by other local bodies, the obligations imposed on the BBMP equally apply to other local bodies, the Court made it clear.
