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JAIPUR: For the past two months, a writ petition is pending before the Rajasthan High Court seeking the citizens’ ‘right to live’ as stray dog attacks have increased while the authorities say they cannot do much. While an 8-year-old boy died following a dog attack on Monday, the writ was filed when an 8-year-old boy had been admitted in the ICU in May.

“The case status is pending which was registered on July 26, 2019 in the high court’s Jaipur bench,” said lawyer Ravi Kant Sharma, who filed the writ petition on the behalf of his client Ashish Chhabra, father of 8-year-old Daksh Jain, who was attacked by stray dog at Ganesh Nagar, Muhana Mandi.

“We filed a petition in the court appealing that Article 21 of the Constitution provides protection of life and personal liberty. But municipal authorities are not taking this seriously and were not interested for people’s life. They don’t care in spite of several continuing incidents of straw dogs attacking children. And municipal officials are ignoring it,” said Sharma.

In the writ petition, the petitioner mentioned that JMC has not taken any action in spite of various representations and complaints submitted by the petitioner and others regarding canine attacks. He further pointed out that the respondents are against the Article 21 of the Constitution of India which provides right to life to the citizens.

The writ further mentioned that the son of the petitioner is afraid of dogs as the municipal authorities have not taken any action in this regard and several repeated representations/ complaints have been made by other colony members too.

That the petitioner has no alternate efficacious and speedy remedy but to invoke extraordinary jurisdiction enshrined under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The petitioner appealed to the court to direct the respondents to protect the life of the citizens from stray dogs and other stray animals.

“I have made several attempts to make JMC act on the dog menace but nothing has been done. Also, I tried to get police help in the matter but that has not materialized. After all these efforts, now I have knocked on the door of the court,” said petitioner Ashish Chhabra.

