Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has said that the decision to appoint a nodal officer and a nodal agency to deal with cow vigilantism will be helpful in differentiating self-styled cow vigilantes (gau rakshaks) from illegal traders. While it is a party to a petition against cow vigilantes in the Supreme Court, the State recently saw a series of such cases in Shrigonda and Nagpur.
The government has once again made it clear that nobody should take law into their own hands or pose as vigilantes to illegally sell beef, said officials, who worked on a joint affidavit filed by the Home Department and the Maharashtra Police as part of a petition filed by Congress leader Tehseen S. Poonwala in the apex court last August.
“The government’s position has always been clear: nobody should take law into their own hands. Whenever there has been a case of vigilantism, the government has acted swiftly. We have, in the past, empowered all Superintendents of police (SPs) to take action,” said Sudhir Shrivastava, additional chief secretary, home.
In a July meeting between the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police, and officials of the Animal Husbandry department, it was decided to appoint the Animal Husbandry department as the nodal department for dealing with all cases of cow vigilantism. The role of the nodal department was defined to coordinate with the police DG. This is even as the power to license, check, and verify certifications for gau rakshaks remains in the purview of Justice C.S. Dharmadhikari, retired HC Judge, who heads a 12-member committee to monitor animal welfare laws in Maharashtra.
“Following the petition in the court, we have collected data on offences registered and animal meat (beef and others) seized by the police. We have submitted this data to the Animal Husbandry department. The matter is being handled by them in courts,” said a Home Department official.
Officials of the Animal Husbandry department said while the responsibilities to certify gau rakshaks remains with the 12-member committee, they have collected all relevant data from the cops to be submitted in court as part of the affidavit.
