Tamil Nadu government moves SC against order banning cow slaughter even on Bakrid

NEW DELHI: Vijay-led government in Tamil Nadu has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Madras high court order directing “absolute and blanket ban” on cow slaughter in the state.The state government said that the HC went beyond “the issue involved” by imposing such a ban “on the eve of Bakrid or any other day”.“In a writ petition seeking a direction to ‘prevent the slaughter of cows in public places’, the High Court ought to have travelled beyond the issue involved, to impose an absolute and blanket ban on the slaughter of cows and calves’ on the eve of Bakrid or any other day’,” ANI quoted the government’s appeal saying.The Tamil Nadu government told the apex court that the HC’s order effectively imposed a blanket ban on cow slaughter, including at authorised slaughterhouses, arguing that such a prohibition was legally untenable as it conflicted with the state’s existing statutory framework governing animal slaughter.In its petition, the government said laws such as the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act, 1958, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023, and applicable food safety regulations provide for the regulation of animal slaughter rather than an outright prohibition.The law allows cows above the age of 10 to be slaughtered if they are certified by the competent authority as unfit for breeding or work.The state has also sought an interim stay on the HC’s directions pending adjudication of the matter.The legal dispute stems from a May 27 order of the Madras HC, which directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered in the state on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day, effectively imposing what the state has described as an “absolute and blanket ban.”The order was passed by a vacation bench of justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought to prevent the slaughter of cows in public places during Bakrid.The petition was filed by K Surya alias K Surya Prasanth of Coimbatore, who had alleged that arrangements were being made to slaughter cows and calves for sacrifice in locations that were not designated slaughterhouses.