Mumbai: After imposing a fine of Rs 5.5 lakh on a member for walking his dogs in the society’s common area, Thane’s Hawaiian Village society imposed another fine of Rs 8.38 lakh on the same animal activist, taking the total fine to Rs 14.12 lakhs.
On May 29, The Free Press Journal reported that Subajit Bhattacharya, who runs a shelter for paraplegic dogs in his residence bungalow in the Hawaiian Village Society in Thane’s Ghodbunder Road, was fined Rs 5.5 lakh by the society.
The society imposed the fine for walking his dogs in the society’s common area after alleging that other members were facing issues due to the dogs’ barking, failure to submit vaccination certificates and his unhygienic practices of cooking dog food.
While Bhattacharya had refused to pay the fine and also served a legal notice to the society with the help of PAL Foudation, the latter imposed another fine of Rs 8.38 lakh on the activist. The maintenance bill for June included dog moving charges worth Rs 8.08 lakh, document compliance charges worth Rs 25,000 and a fine of Rs 5,000. The bill also added dues from the last month with interest taking the total fine up to Rs 14.12 lakhs.
Bhattacharya said, “Earlier, they mentioned miscellaneous charges and now they have named it as dog moving charges. I will continue not paying the fine and pay under protest the maintenance cost only. I have already served a legal notice to the society and once the period is over, I will proceed with the legal options.”
Roshan Pathak, animal rights advisor at PAL Foundation, said, “The amount of fine imposed by the society on the feeder is huge and amounts to extortion and harassment. Every society’s committee members should follow the Animal Birth Control rules and not frame their own laws. We will always support animal lovers in such legal matters if we witness instances of unlawful punishment from societies in the future.”
