Terming as "horrific" the death of a five-month-old child in 2007 after being bitten by a stray dog, the Delhi High Court has said "somebody has to take responsibility for this."
"This can't happen. It was horrific. Somebody has to take responsibility for this," Justice Vibhu Bakhru said.
The court made the observation in response to Animal Welfare Board of India's contention that municipal authorities are acting as per Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and cannot be held liable to pay compensation.
It also told the court that in a similar matter, the Uttarakhand High Court had granted compensation but the Supreme Court had recently stayed that order.
Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) made the submissions while seeking to be made a party in a plea by the child's mother who has alleged negligence on the part of the municipal authorities.
The court, thereafter, made AWBI a party in the matter and asked it to file its response before the next date of hearing.
The court had earlier made the Centre, Delhi Development Authority and New Delhi Municipal Council as parties in the case on the basis of a report by the amicus curiae appointed in the matter.
The amicus had in his report said that stray dogs had become a big menace and the problem had reached alarming proportions.
His report had also said the canine population was increasing despite the sterilisation methods being adopted, as claimed by the municipal corporations of Delhi.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the infant's mother, Geeta Devi, who had said that her five-month-old child died due to a street dog's attack in 2007 and alleged that the death had occurred due to negligence of the municipal authorities.
