Dog menace: SCfor status report

The Supreme Court has asked the S. Sri Jagan Committee, set up by the apex court to study the stray dog menace in Kerala and decide compensation to victims, to submit a status report.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was informed by advocate V.K. Biju, for some of the victims, that there was a “controversy” regarding the payment of the compensation to the victims.

The court on Monday asked advocate Gaurav Agrawal, representing the committee, to request the panel to apprise the apex court of the amount awarded and paid to the victims. The court listed the case for hearing on July 16. It was alleged that the dog-bite victims, despite being awarded the compensation by the panel, had not yet been paid by the State government.

In January, the Kerala government had complained to the apex court that the Jagan committee was ordering “exorbitant amounts” of up to ₹20 lakh to treat dog bites.

The Pinarayi Vijayan government said that treating dog bites in the State was actually free and government hospitals do not charge the victims.

An affidavit filed by the State in the Supreme Court had said it was time to cap the committee’s compassion at ₹5 lakh maximum. It said even the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Funds pays victims of tragedies ₹5 lakh.

The State said that the money for payment of dog-bite compensations go from the local self-government bodies’ coffers. They simply cannot bear the financial burden.