Stray dogs: Kerala High Court retains compensation claims, forwards remaining cases to Supreme Court

The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed its Registrar General to forward cases concerning stray dog attacks and related public safety and policy concerns to the Supreme Court, following the apex court's August 22 directive to do so [Keerthana Sarin v State of Kerala & ors and connected cases]..Justice CS Dias, however, clarified that the High Court will continue hearing petitions concerning compensation for stray dog attacks, since they involve appeals against decisions of committees functioning in Kerala. "In light of the (Supreme Court) order, I'm of the view that petitions relating to the stray dog issue in the state are to be translated and transferred to the Supreme Court as per the direction of the Supreme Court. On the other hand, since the other petitions pertain to challenges against compensation awarded by committee, they are to be retained in this Court. Hence, the Registrar General is directed to take appropriate steps to comply with the directions passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the above order," the High Court said..The Court passed the order in view of the Supreme Court's recent directive in a suo motu case originally initiated over stray dog attacks in Delhi. The top court had recently expanded the scope of the matter to consider the stray dogs issue pan-India. Therefore, it directed that all such cases pending across India be transferred to the Supreme Court for a uniform, pan-India consideration of the matter. In compliance with this directive, the Kerala High Court too has now ordered that all pending stray dog-related cases be forwarded to the Supreme Court, except those concerning compensation for stray dog attacks..The High Court has been hearing numerous petitions concerning the stray dog issue in the State.It had earlier directed the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) to constitute district-level committees in all 14 districts of Kerala to adjudicate compensation claims arising from stray dog attacks..The Supreme Court recently dealt with a related issue concerning stray dog management in the Delhi NCR region. A Division Bench of the top court had on August 11 ordered municipal authorities in Delhi to round up stray dogs and put them in shelters, adding that they cannot be re-released back to the streets. The order prompted widespread protests by animal rights activists.The matter was later transferred to another three-judge Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria, who, on August 22, modified the August 11 directive. The new Bench ordered that the dogs shall be released from dog shelters after being dewormed and vaccinated, unless they are aggressive or rabid dogs. The three-judge Bench also expanded the scope of the case, stating that it would consider the issue on a pan-India basis, so that a final national policy or decision can be taken. Accordingly, all stray dog-related cases were ordered to be transferred from High Courts across India to the Supreme Court.