The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to pass an order seeking explanations from senior police officers of various states on cow vigilantism, PTI reported. A plea had been filed by social activist Tehseen Poonawalla against the state laws protecting individuals involved in cow vigilantism.
“The states will take care of it. Why should we presume anything?” the bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra said, according to News18. In April, the Supreme Court had directed Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Maharashtra to respond to rising incidents of cow protectionism.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench that only Karnataka so far had filed its reply. The Supreme Court directed the states and the Centre to submit their replies on the matter in six weeks.
Hegde suggested that until the states have submitted their replies, police officers of any area where such incidents get reported in the future should be held responsible “personally”. “If one police officer is held responsible, things would get sorted out,” Hegde said according to Deccan Herald.
“We cannot pass orders like this. We have to first see what is the response of the Centre and state governments. Let the reply come,” the bench said. The matter has been posted for further hearing till July.
The plea had alleged that the cow vigilantism groups were committing atrocities against minority communities in the name of protecting cows, PTI reported. Poonawalla had also accused the Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana governments of rewarding vigilantes, because of which such groups had “earned legitimacy”.
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