'Dog's own country': SC speeds up plea on Kerala's stray menace

KOCHI: The Supreme Court on Monday advanced the hearing in cases related to Kerala's stray dog menace to September 9 after a petitioner's counsel pressed for an urgent listing, saying the state had "become 'dog's own country' from 'God's own country'".

A bench of CJI UU Lalit and Justice S Raveendra Bhat agreed to bring forward the hearing from September 26 while listening to the petitioner's advocate who mentioned startling figures of "10 lakh dog bites in five years" and requested the court to direct the Kerala government to take measures to counter the problem.

The advocate, V K Biju, cited a recent spike in such incidents and said a 12-year-old girl was battling for life after being attacked by a rabid dog bite despite having taken the anti-rabies shot. The girl died later on Monday. Biju said several kids had been attacked by strays. Many are in serious condition despite taking vaccines. Several are kids of daily-wagers. The situation is critical and the court should consider looking into a report compiled by a committee headed by Justice S Siri Jagan, Biju told the CJI-led bench.

In 2016, the SC had constituted a commission led by Justice Jagan, a former Kerala high court judge, to deal with complaints related to dog bites and determine compensation for the victims. "Please call for the present status from Siri Jagan commission," the counsel requested after mentioning the staggering figure of 10 lakh dog bites. After listing the batch of such petitions for September 9, the bench said that it would consider seeking a report from the three-member committee headed by Justice Jagan.