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🇮🇳 India /Crime & Justice

Supreme Court stays Madras HC’s blanket ban on cow, calf slaughter in Tamil Nadu

From Hindustan Times · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • The Supreme Court has temporarily halted a Madras High Court order banning the slaughter of cows and calves in Tamil Nadu.
  • The state government argued the high court's blanket ban exceeded the existing legal framework, which permits slaughter under specific conditions.
  • The Supreme Court agreed that the high court's order, issued before Bakrid, appeared to require correction.

The Supreme Court has placed a temporary stay on a sweeping ban imposed by the Madras High Court that prohibited the slaughter of cows and calves throughout Tamil Nadu, including during the Bakrid festival. The apex court observed that the operative part of the high court's order "prima facie requires correction."

A bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued the interim order while reviewing a special leave petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government. The state government contended that the Madras High Court's May 27 judgment amounted to judicial overreach, effectively creating legislation where none existed in the statutory framework governing animal slaughter in Tamil Nadu.

The last paragraph of the high court’s order, prima facie, requires correction.

— Supreme Court benchThe Supreme Court justices commented on the nature of the Madras High Court's order while issuing a stay.

The Tamil Nadu government's petition argued that the high court's order contradicts the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act of 1958. This act permits the slaughter of cows older than 10 years if they are certified unfit for work or breeding by competent authorities. The state emphasized that existing laws, including the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, regulate slaughter conditions but do not impose a total prohibition.

The Madras High Court's order, issued on a public interest litigation filed by K Surya Prasanth, general secretary of the Hindu Makkal Katchi, went beyond the initial plea to prevent cow slaughter in temporary or undesignated places during Bakrid. It directed the chief secretary and director general of Police to ensure no cow or calf was slaughtered anywhere in the state on Bakrid or any other day. The high court had cited a 1976 government order and previous Supreme Court decisions stating that cow slaughter is not an essential religious practice for Bakrid.

The high court’s direction effectively amounted to judicial legislation by imposing a prohibition that finds no place in the statutory framework governing animal slaughter in Tamil Nadu.

— Abhishek Manu SinghviSenior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the state, argued that the high court had overstepped its bounds.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hindustan Times. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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