Haryana, November 14 : Punjab & Haryana High Court Establishes Rs 10,000 Per Tooth Mark Compensation Standard for Victims of Stray Dog Bites, Directs States to Foot the Bill
In a momentous decision, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a directive on Tuesday, specifying that the state government bears the primary responsibility for compensating victims of dog bites. The court outlined that the minimum financial assistance should amount to Rs 10,000 per tooth mark.
The court ruling articulated that when the flesh is torn from the skin, the compensation should be a minimum of Rs 20,000 per 0.2 cm wound. This pronouncement transpired during a hearing addressing a cluster of petitions related to incidents of dog bites.
In the disposition of 193 petitions, the high court further mandated the governments of Punjab and Haryana, along with the Union Territory of Chandigarh, to establish committees led by the deputy commissioners of their respective districts to ascertain and determine the compensation amounts.
“The Committees must release awards within four months of the submission of claims, accompanied by the requisite documents. The state is to be held primarily accountable for disbursing compensation, either directly or through the defaulting agencies of the state, utilizing state resources. The state retains the right to recover the compensation from a private person,” decreed a single bench of Justice Vinod S Bharadwaj. A woman approaches and pets a random dog on the street, only to be brutally attacked by the animal (Watch Video).
This ruling assumes paramount importance at a juncture when incidents of dog bites are on the upswing nationwide. Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh has been registering the highest number of such cases, with a staggering 70-80 dog bite incidents reported daily. The state government recently disclosed that 150-180 injections are administered daily to victims of such incidents.
