Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court pulled up the state government for dragging its feet on coming up with a comprehensive policy to tackle the issue of stray cattle causing injuries to people [Mustak Hussain Mehndi Hussain Kadri v. Jagadip Narayan Singh, IAS].
A Bench of Justices AS Supehia and MR Mengdey was hearing a contempt petition filed against the state for failing to formulate a policy for tackling the menace of stray cattle. On October 18 last year, the state assured the court that it would come up with positive measures to address the issue.
Noting that the state had not taken sufficient steps to this end, a miffed Justice Supehia said: “When will the State understand that security and safety of the citizens is supreme? Why aren’t you taking it seriously? Where is the accountability of the officers? We want you to fix the accountability of a particular officer in every area, who will ensure cattle aren’t roaming on the road. But you have not done anything. Are you waiting for someone to die?”
The court further said that the state authorities have utterly failed to consider the plight of the family members of victims who either died or got severely injured in cattle attacks.
“Have you ever thought of the plight of the family members of those who have died in such incidents? Despite our orders, we keep reading that someone is attacked or has died due to cattle menace. We want a permanent solution to this issue,” the Bench demanded.
It noted that co-ordinate benches of the High Court have been passing orders since the last three to four years, but ‘ultimately’ nothing has happened.
Senior advocate Mihir Joshi, representing the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), told the court that the civic body is considering bringing in some long-term and short-term measures to curb the menace.
The judges responded that once a policy is introduced either by the AMC or the state, it will ensure the same is implemented in every district.