Cattle trade for slaughter: Supreme Court suspends ban across India
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/supreme-court-puts-on-hold-ban-on-cattle-trade-for-slaughter-govt-says-new-rules-by-august-end/story-WypElt9CMgFZP1wxPsLdgJ.html
The Narendra Modi government on May 25 banned sale of cattle, including cows, for slaughter and restricted cattle trade to farm owners.
INDIA Updated: Jul 12, 2017 07:42 IST
Bhadra Sinha
Bhadra Sinha
Hindustan Times, New Delhi
cattle trade
A file photo a cow shelter in Dhanbad, Jharkhand.(HT)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended to all of India the Madras high court order that put on hold the Centre’s notification banning sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, a move that had triggered howls of protest.
The Centre told the court the cattle-trade rules, which several states refused to implement, would not come into effect. It would revise the rules by the August-end after considering the objections.
“Needless to say that the interim direction issued by the Madurai bench of the Madras high court shall continue and extend to the entire country,” the bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and justice DY Chandrachud said.
The Modi government on May 25 banned sale of cattle, including cows, for slaughter and restricted cattle trade to farm owners, a decision that hit poor farmers and squeezed supplies to the country’s Rs 1 lakh-crore meat industry.
Rivals have accused the government of pushing a beef ban through the back door in keeping with the BJP’s Hindutva agenda.
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The court told the petitioners that they were free to come back to it if they find the new rules wanting.
The top court is hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the ban that was put on hold by the Madras high court on May 30.
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The ban has hurt mostly Muslim meat and leather traders who face mounting violence by cow vigilante groups. Farmers have also been deprived of a traditional source of income from selling non-milch and ageing cattle.
Most states have weekly markets where animals are traded and these markets are primary source of supply for meat traders.
The controversial rules sparked protests and beef fests across India with several states – such as Kerala and West Bengal – saying they wouldn’t implement the order as the government can’t dictate food habits.
Even some of the BJP’s allies in the northeast – where beef is part of the daily diet – have reservations.
One of the demands of the meat industry is the exclusion of buffalo from the list of animals governed by the new rules.
An NGO has argued that the rules framed under the prevention of cruelty to animals act are against public interest.
The petitions also noted that only state governments were empowered to make laws on cattle markets and fairs, which rendered the new rules arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional.
Supreme Court stays Centre’s notification banning the sale of cattle for slaughter
The top court said livelihoods could not be ‘subjected to uncertainties’.
Supreme Court stays Centre’s notification banning the sale of cattle for slaughter
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the central government’s notification banning the sale of cattle for slaughter at markets across the country. The Centre said it would not oppose the ruling, but might change the new rules if necessary, The Indian Express reported.
The top court said that people’s livelihoods could not be “subjected to uncertainties” because of the ban, News18 reported. The bench extended a stay initially issued by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court. On May 30, the Madras High Court had issued a nation-wide stay on the notification.
On Tuesday, the central government told the Supreme Court that because of objections from the public, it was re-considering “certain aspects” of the notification, The Hindu reported. However, during the hearing, Additional Solicitor General PS Narasimha, who was representing the Centre, said this did not mean the rules would be repealed. The report added that Narasimha said the central government did not object to the court extending the Madras High Court ban. While extending the stay, Chief Justice Khehar JS Khehar said, “A balanced view will be needed to keep the rules in abeyance until you finalise everything and re-notfify the amended rules”.
The government had earlier said the notification did not amount to a beef ban, as was reported, and that it was open to suggestions on it. It had also said the intention behind the notification was not to harm any particular group, restrict the food habits of people or affect business. However, the notification had attracted massive criticism from Opposition parties, and even the Bharatiya Janata Party in certain states because of its focus on cows.
The new rules formulated under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act disallow the sale of cattle – cows, buffaloes, bullocks, calves and camels – for slaughter in animal markets. The government had defended the notification, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stating that it had nothing to do with state laws on cow slaughter, but only affected the place of sale.
India Supreme Court suspends cattle slaughter ban
11 July 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-40565457
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An Indian caretaker guides calves through the door at a cow shelter in New Delhi on April 25, 2017Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Slaughtering cows is already banned in several Indian states
India's Supreme Court has suspended a law that would have banned the sale of cattle for slaughter nationwide.
The government order aimed to "prevent uncontrolled and unregulated animal trade" at livestock markets.
For the first time the sale for slaughter of buffaloes and camels as well as cows, which Hindus consider holy, would have been illegal.
It would have had a major impact on the meat and leather industries and hit livelihoods, the chief justice said.
These industries are dominated by minority Muslims and the proposed law was widely opposed.
The new law had already been stayed by a lower court in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on 30 May, days after it was first announced.
The top court said the Madras high court's interim order, which lapsed on 8 July, would continue and remained in force across the country.
The government is now expected to make changes and resubmit amendments to the law by the end of August.
Vigilantes
Cows are considered holy by India's majority Hindu population and slaughtering them is already banned in most but not all states, but this would have been the first time buffaloes had been included in a slaughter ban.
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Most of India's beef comes from water buffaloes rather than cows. With annual exports worth $4bn (£3.1bn), India is the largest exporter of beef, mostly buffalo meat, in the world.
Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar said in his order that "the livelihood of people should not be affected by this".
Petitioners in Tamil Nadu had argued that the ban infringed their right to choose what they ate.
Abdul Faheem Qureshi, the head of the Muslim All India Jamiatul Quresh Action Committee that supports meat sellers, who had lodged the petition with the Supreme Court, told Reuters news agency that the order was a "victory".
Many states have actively started enforcing bans on cow slaughter after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party formed India's federal government in 2014.
The western state of Gujarat passed a law in March making the slaughter of cows punishable with life imprisonment. In addition to government bans, vigilante groups who portray themselves as protectors of cows have been active in several states.
In some cases, these groups have killed Muslim men they suspect of killing cows. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said last year that cow vigilante groups made him "angry", said again in June that killing in the name of cow protection was "not acceptable".
However, this has not stopped attacks against cattle traders.
Mr Modi's critics say the new law is aimed at appeasing India's Hindu community.
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