Chandigarh, Dec. 24 -- A local court has awarded Rs.1 lakh compensation and ordered a couple from Nirvana Society in Sector 49 to cover the Rs.30,000 medical expenses of another resident of their society who was bitten by their pet dogs in 2020. They were held liable for negligence and violation of municipal bye-laws governing pet dogs. Civil judge (Junior Division) Ambika Sharma partly decreed a civil suit filed by Dr Bhumika Gupta, of Sector 49-B, and directed Divya Setia and her husband Manpal Setia to pay Rs.30,000 towards medical expenses along with interest, and Rs.1 lakh as compensation for physical, mental and social suffering. The incident happened on January 18, 2020, when Gupta went to the terrace of her housing society to collect some clothes that she had hung out to dry. The terrace was occupied by the defendants along with alleged five pet dogs. Gupta alleged that the defendants tied only three of them before opening the door for her. While collecting her clothes, she alleged that one of the dogs pushed her down and attacked her on the forehead and scalp. She alleged it caused a degloving injury severing the flesh from there and cutting off the supply of blood. After she raised an alarm, the other neighbours rushed to the spot and took her for treatment. After the two defendants said they would bear the cost of her medical expenses she chose not to file an FIR. She incurred medical expenses up to Rs.30,000, however when she went to them to bear her expenses they didn't consider her request. The defendants said that the allegations are baseless. They insisted that they had kept two pet dogs as the permissible limit by the municipal corporation (MC). On the day of the incident, they claimed that their dogs were chained and Gupta had teased her dogs. After they started barking, they alleged that her foot got stuck with pipes lying on the roof, and she fell on the ground, and as a result, she had sustained the alleged injury. Officials from the MC also filed their statement and said that as per the Chandigarh Registration of Pet Dogs Bye-Laws, 2010, amended in 2020, a family living within the jurisdiction of Chandigarh MC can only keep a maximum of two dogs. The defendants in the violation of the bye-laws kept four dogs, and on October 8, 2020, a challan was issued against the defendant for this. The defendant had preferred to appeal this in front of the MC commissioner but this was also rejected. The court noted in its order that till date this challan of Rs.5,000 remains pending. While the defendants had claimed that they had rescued over 1,500 animals, birds and snakes, ".it is settled law that a master who is aware of the vicious propensities of the animal kept by him is bound to take care of the same that such vicious propensities do not pose a danger to human beings living around him. Defendants in this case have been proved not only negligent but also violators of Bye-Laws which has come on record in written statements of MC." the court observed and ruled partly in the favour of Gupta. While she had sought Rs.2 lakh as damages and permanent and mandatory injunctions against the defendants, the court limited the compensation to Rs.1 lakh, citing the nature of injuries and principles of proportionality....