SC stays Madras HC ban on cow slaughter in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Madras High Court’s direction to the Tamil Nadu government to ban cow slaughter in the state. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the interim order while hearing an appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government challenging the High Court’s May 27 directions.

The State government had moved the top court against the Madras HC decision, arguing that the High Court had travelled beyond the scope of the public interest litigation, which sought directions to prevent the slaughter of cows in public places, by imposing a blanket prohibition on the slaughter of cows and calves across the state.

According to the appeal, the High Court’s direction effectively prohibited cow slaughter even in designated slaughterhouses, contrary to the statutory framework governing animal slaughter in Tamil Nadu.

The state further submitted that the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act, 1958, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023, and the applicable food safety regulations regulate animal slaughter and do not impose an absolute ban. The government had sought an interim stay on the operation of the High Court’s directions.

Earlier on July 1, the Tamil Nadu government had approached the Supreme Court challenging the May 27 Madras High Court’s order, which imposed a blanket ban on the slaughter of cows and calves in the state. The state government had argued that the High Court had gone beyond the framework of the law by directing a blanket prohibition on cow slaughter.

“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,” the appeal of the government stated.

On May 27, the High Court, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by K Surya Prasanth, the General Secretary of Hindu Makkal Katchi, which sought direction to prevent the slaughtering of cows in public places, directed the State “to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day”.

The government submitted before the apex court that the High Court imposed a blanket ban on cow slaughter even in the designated slaughter houses, which is unsustainable in law for the reasons that it runs contrary to the statutory framework governing the practice of animal slaughter in the State of Tamil Nadu.

The petition submitted that the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act, 1958, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023, and the relevant food safety regulations contemplate regulation of animal slaughter and not an absolute ban.

The government sought an interim stay on the operation of the High Court’s directions. (ANI)