The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Madras High Court order that directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day. A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta passed the order, according to Live Law. The High Court in May imposed a blanket ban on the slaughter of cows and calves during Bakrid “or on any other day” in Tamil Nadu.
A vacation bench comprising Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayanan passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to prevent the slaughter of cows in places other than designated slaughterhouses.
“The question that calls for consideration in this PIL is whether cows and calves can be sacrificed in places not designated as slaughterhouses on the occasion of Bakrid?” the bench observed.
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Allowing the petition, the court directed the state government to strictly enforce the ban.
“We allow this writ petition with a direction to the State of Tamil Nadu to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day.
The authorities, particularly the chief secretary to the government and the additional director general of police (law and order), are obliged to issue suitable instructions to all the officials concerned to ensure that there is no breach of this order.”
The PIL was filed by K Surya alias K Surya Prasanth of Coimbatore, who contended that arrangements were being made to slaughter cows and calves for Qurban (sacrifice) during Bakrid at locations that were not designated slaughterhouses.
Referring to Article 48 of the Constitution, the bench said the Directive Principles require the state to take steps to prohibit the slaughter of cows, calves and other milch and draught cattle.
“During the debates in the Constituent Assembly, it was pointed out that the cow is a revered animal and that it has been associated with our civilisation from the time of Lord Krishna. During the rule of many Muslim kings, cow slaughter was abolished. Cow protection was an issue so dear to Mahatma Gandhiji. The eminent scholar Shri Dharampal pointed out that only to cater to the dietary requirements of the colonial army, cows came to be slaughtered in very large numbers. After India attained Independence, several States passed legislation and those legislations had also been upheld.”
The court further noted that under the law, a cow can be slaughtered only if it is over 10 years old, is unfit for both work and breeding, or has become permanently incapacitated due to injury, deformity or an incurable disease.
“Thus, the animal should be unfit both for work as well as breeding. It should be aged above 10 years. The certificate must have been issued by the competent authority in the prescribed form. Section 4(3)(b) should be understood to mean that the permanent incapacitation is due to injury, deformity or any incurable disease. If no such certificate in the prescribed form signed by the competent authority is furnished, slaughter cannot be permitted.”
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The bench also referred to an undated Tamil Nadu government order, which states: “Government, therefore, considers it necessary to enforce a ban on cow slaughter, in the interest of milk production and the improvement of rural economy, govt hereby, direct that the slaughter of cows and heifers (female calves) be banned in all the slaughter houses in Tamil Nadu.”
Reiterating that the government order has the force of law, the court said Section 113 of the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998, permits animal sacrifice only at designated locations and held that authorities cannot allow the slaughter of any animal anywhere other than notified slaughterhouses.
