The Tamil Nadu government has moved the Supreme Court challenging a Madras High Court order that imposed a blanket ban on slaughtering cows and calves in the state, Live Law reported on Wednesday.
In its petition, the state argued that the May High Court exceeded the scope of the public interest litigation before it and issued a blanket prohibition that was contrary to the statutory framework governing animal slaughter in Tamil Nadu, Bar and Bench reported.
The order in question was passed on May 27 by a bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayan on a petition filed by the general secretary of the Hindutva organisation, Hindu Makkal Katchi.
The petition had sought directions to ensure that cows were slaughtered only at designated places during Bakrid in Coimbatore and not in public places as per existing laws and directions, Bar and Bench reported.
The state said the authorities had informed the High Court that measures had already been taken to ensure that no slaughter took place in public places.
According to its counter affidavit, the police had stepped up surveillance, identified designated slaughterhouses, deployed officials for inspections and taken steps to ensure that any slaughter was confined to authorised facilities, Bar and Bench reported.
However, after initially observing that slaughter should take place only in designated slaughterhouses, the High Court directed the state to ensure that “no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day”.
The Tamil Nadu government argued that the direction amounted to a statewide ban, even though the 1958 Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act permits the slaughter of cows over the age of 10 years that are unfit for work or breeding after certification by the competent authority, Live Law reported.
It added that other laws regulating animal slaughter regulate the conditions under which animals may be slaughtered, but do not impose a total prohibition.
The state contended that the High Court granted relief that had neither been sought nor pleaded, and that its order effectively “substituted judicial legislation for statutory law”.
The Tamil Nadu government has asked the Supreme Court to set aside the High Court’s order and sought an interim stay on its imposition until the matter is dealt with, Bar and Bench reported.
Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
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