Rs 13-lakh relief for victim’s kin

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 17

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered a compensation of Rs 13 lakh for kin of a 17-year-old boy killed due to the simian menace in the city. Of the total amount, Rs 4 lakh has already been paid as interim compensation.

As the petition, filed against the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation by Bhupinder Kaur and another petitioner, came up for orders, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain made it clear that the remaining Rs 9 lakh would be paid by the Municipal Corporation.

The corporation had earlier tried to wriggle out of making the payment by claiming that monkey was a protected animal and it was not its liability. Counsel for the petitioners, on the other hand, had submitted that Rs 2 lakh was earlier directed to be paid by the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, as interim compensation to the petitioners. The Municipal Corporation’s appeal against the order was dismissed.

Taking a note of the submissions, the Bench in January had asserted it was not in dispute that a draft of Rs 2 lakh was handed over to the petitioners in the court. As such, the corporation could not challenge its liability at present to make the payment. 

Holding that the Chandigarh Administration and the Municipal Corporation were duty-bound to undertake essential measures for preventing untoward incidents due to the monkey menace, the High Court had earlier asked the UT to specify whether a coordination committee could  be formed to examine the feasibility of coming out with a comprehensive plan to control the problem. 

“Admittedly, a 17-year-old boy was killed in an accident when a concrete slab had fallen on him due to the monkey menace. This court feels that it is the duty of the Administration and the corporation to take necessary steps to prevent these type of incidents,” Justice Rajan Gupta had asserted when the matter was initially placed before his Bench.

The UT Forest and Wildlife Department, during the course of the hearing, made clear its intent to ensure residents who feed simian unburden their wallets. The department conveyed to the court its decision to request the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh to amend its bylaws to make monkey feeding an offence punishable by fine on the Shimla Municipal Corporation pattern.

In an affidavit on steps taken and contemplated to curb the monkey menace in the city, UT Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden Santosh Kumar had stated that the citizens’ helpline would be made more effective.