High court clamps ban on beef festival at JNU

There will be no beef-and-pork festival at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Delhi high court has said. Acting on a PIL filed by the Rashtriya Goraksha Sena the court on Wednesday directed JNU authorities and the police to ensure the event did not take place on September 28 or any time in the future.

There will be no beef-and-pork festival at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Delhi high court has said.

Acting on a PIL filed by the Rashtriya Goraksha Sena — which sought a ban on the festival and action against The New Materialists, the student body that proposed it — the court on Wednesday directed JNU authorities and the police to ensure the event did not take place as planned on September 28 or any time in the future.

Earlier, the JNU registrar had issued a circular warning students against the possession, consumption or cooking of beef on campus. The court ordered strict compliance with this.

“The intention is to hurt the sentiments of a particular community, to disturb the peace and the educational atmosphere,” Vimal Wadhawan, counsel for the Sena, argued. “The Delhi Agricultural Cattle Prevention Act, 1994 has a provision for five years imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine for storing or serving beef,” he added.

The proposed festival had ruffled a lot of feathers, even leading to a scuffle during the recently-concluded student body elections. Several right-wing groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal had held protests outside the university.