Tamil Nadu moves SC against High Court order on blanket ban of cows slaughter

NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu government has 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 has 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”.

#WATCH | Chennai, Tamil Nadu: On the State Govt’s appeal against the cow slaughter verdict, BJP leader Narayana Thirupathi says, “I think the government is wasting its time by going on an appeal. The Madras High Court’s order was very clear, citing the 1976 Government Order. It… pic.twitter.com/8jbdzMJxHS

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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)