The Allahabad High Court has upheld the detention of a man under the National Security Act for allegedly slaughtering a cow and two calves in March 2025, reported Live Law on Monday.

Cow slaughter triggers spontaneous “strong emotions and violent reactions for obvious injury to religious beliefs of a large section of the society”, held a bench of Justices JJ Munir and Sanjiv Kumar in an order delivered on Thursday.

Such acts have an “inherent potentiality” of triggering “widespread ripples in society that would affect the even tempo of life”, the bench added.

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On March 15, 2025, the police allegedly discovered the remains of a calf in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district, reported Live Law. The discovery coincided with the Hindu festival of Holi. It had triggered unrest among the Hindu community.

According to the police, a group of residents and members of Hindutva organisations had gathered at the site, shouted slogans and blocked a road while demanding the arrest of those involved.

The petitioner and his associates were arrested after an investigation, said the police. They also claimed that the accused persons had confessed to slaughtering a cow and two calves in a jungle.

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The police further alleged that the petitioner, who was trying to secure his bail, had sent messages from jail that he would again slaughter a cow upon being released, reported Live Law.

Following this, a detention order was passed against him under the National Security Act.

The Act allows the Union or state government to order the detention of a person “with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations with foreign powers, or the security of India”.

On Thursday, the court held that the detaining authority was “absolutely justified” in assuming that the petitioner could “indulge in activity prejudicial to the maintenance of public order” after being released from prison.