The Supreme Court on Monday asked the state governments of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to explain why they had not followed its order asking them to prevent violence in the name of cow vigilantism. The apex court was hearing a contempt of court petition filed by Tarun Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, PTI reported.
On September 6, 2017, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre and state governments to take urgent steps to curb incidents of cow vigilantism.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud ordered the states to reply by April 3.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who was representing the petition, claimed that cow-related violence was still occurring in various parts of these states despite the court’s order.
In April 2017, the Supreme Court had asked Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka to file a report on the rising incidents of cow protectionism.
In July 2017, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that it was the states’ duty to handle incidents of cow vigilantism.
In its September order, the apex court had asked each state to appoint a senior police official to serve as the nodal officer in each district to ensure that such incidents do not take place.
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