The Tamil Nadu government has moved the Supreme Court challenging a Madras High Court order that directed the southern state to impose a complete ban on cow slaughter.
In its petition filed on June 9, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government argued that the high court’s direction effectively rewrites the law by imposing a blanket prohibition that does not exist under any of the state’s existing laws. The government further said the high court wrongly relied on a 1976 Government Order directing a ban on cow slaughter in all slaughterhouses in Tamil Nadu, that was issued on the premise that if would improve milk production and strengthen the rural economy.
The plea, still pending for hearing before the Supreme Court, challenges a May 27 order passed by a bench of justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan on the eve of Bakrid. The state’s petition has also impleaded K Surya Prasanth, the youth wing secretary of Indu Makkal Katchi, who was the original writ petitioner before the Madras High Court, as well as senior state officials, as respondent parties.
According to TVK, the high court’s direction is contrary to the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act, which permits the slaughter of cows above 10 years of age if they are certified by the competent authority as permanently unfit for work or breeding. The Act, the government said, along with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, and the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, regulates animal slaughter but does not impose a total ban.
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{{/usCountry}}The plea before high court had alleged that local authorities in Coimbatore had permitted slaughter in temporary, non-designated places ahead of Bakrid, seeking directions to prevent such slaughter.
However, the bench led by justice Swaminathan directed the chief secretary and director general of police to ensure that no cow or calf was slaughtered anywhere in Tamil Nadu either on Bakrid or on any other day, the government said.
The government further said the high court order is internally inconsistent. “While the high court correctly observed that slaughter could take place only in designated slaughterhouses or places notified under the law, it simultaneously imposed a complete prohibition on cow and calf slaughter,” the government said.