An animal activist’s last-ditch attempts to prevent the slaughtering of camels in the city on the eve of Bakrid came to naught with the Madras High Court refusing to grant any immediate relief.
On Tuesday, G. Arun filed a petition and approached the court for a direction to the city police to register his complaint on camel slaughtering and investigate the same.
He also filed a miscellaneous petition seeking to direct the police to secure the camels spotted on Parthasarathy Street in Old Washermenpet, in Trustpuram playground, Kodambakkam, and other places and provide them food and shelter, apart from stopping the slaughter of the animals.
As the Madras High Court is on vacation, the petitioner’s counsel moved emergency resident motion. Later in the evening, Justice K.B.K. Vasuki heard the matter in her residence.
S. Shunmugavelayudham, State public prosecutor, said a similar issue had been raised in a public interest plea filed by Blue Cross of India.
The First Bench, after issuing notice to authorities, adjourned the matter for further hearing on October 30.
The public prosecutor also said, on the basis of a complaint by the petitioner, an inspector had ascertained that of the three camels found on city streets, two had been handed over to the Big Mosque in Kodambakkam and one sent to Bilal Nagar Kanathur mosque for better food and shelter.
In her brief order, Justice Vasuki said: “Except recording the submission made by the public prosecutor regarding the custody of the animals and their feeding by the Kodambakkam and Kanathur mosques, no further order is warranted at this stage.” The judge directed Mr. Arun’s petition to be tagged along with the Blue Cross plea and adjourned the matter for October 30.
