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SC discusses stray dog menace after lawyer ‘hounded and attacked’
During the informal discussion, the recent case of a Ghaziabad boy's death was also mentioned in the apex court.
The recent incident from Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, in which a boy died after being infected with rabies following a dog bite, was mentioned in the Supreme Court on Monday, as the issue of stray dog menace came up for an informal discussion while a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud was hearing a case.
This happened after a lawyer, who was heavily bandaged, revealed on being asked by the CJI that he was ‘hounded and attacked’ by five stray dogs.
What happened?
Spotting lawyer Kunal Chatterjee with a bandaged arm, CJI Chandrachud sought to know how the former got injured. Chatterjee told the CJI that he was attacked by a pack of dogs in his neighbourhood.
Offering to help Chatterjee, the CJI asked, “Do you need any medical attention? I can ask the registry to take you right now.”
Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, meanwhile, urged the apex court to take suo motu notice of the 'stray dog menace' in the country.
Solicitor General speaks…
Mentioning the Ghaziabad incident, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, the country's second-highest law officer, noted how stray dogs have become a ‘huge menace.’
“Recently a video surfaced. A child was bitten by dogs in Uttar Pradesh. Usually we do not take much care. Once rabies developed, he was taken to hospital. The doctors said nothing can be done, the child was dying in his father's lap,” said Mehta.
On this, Justice Chandrachud recalled how two years ago, his law clerk was attacked by some wild dogs while parking his (clerk's) car.
The Ghaziabad incident
The Ghaziabad Police have booked four persons of a family for allegedly sheltering stray dogs after one of the dogs reportedly bit the 15-year-old boy. The deceased did not inform his parents and treated the wound with turmeric; eventually, however, he developed rabies, and passed away on September 4.
(With PTI inputs)
