The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a petition challenging the new notifications issued by the Centre banning sale and trade of cattle in livestock markets for the purposes of slaughter and religious animal sacrifices.
The petition said the notifications issued by the Environment Ministry would cast a “huge economic burden” on farmers and cattle traders, exposing them to harassment by cow vigilantes and the police.
A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Deepak Gupta listed the petition filed by Mohammed Abdul Faheem Qureshi, a Hyderabad-based lawyer and president of the All India Jamiatul Quresh Action Committee, on June 15 for hearing.
The case was mentioned before the Bench by counsel Sanobar Qureshi, who submitted that provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals) Rules, both issued on May 23, were unconstitutional.
The petition contended that the Livestock Markets Rules ban sale or purchase of cattle for slaughter in animal markets.
It said the rules extend the definition of “animal markets” to “any other premises or place” to which animals are brought for sale.
Food of choice
“Therefore, the impugned provisions are imposing an absolute ban on slaughtering of animals in the country, directly affecting the employment of the butchers and depriving citizens to have the food of their choice,” the petition argued.
It said the restriction on slaughter would force farmers to hold on to “useless” cattle. “Farmers who find it difficult to feed their children today would be required to feed the cattle,” the petition said.
It quoted the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench judgment in the M.H. Quareshi case that “maintenance of useless cattle involves a wasteful drain on the nation’s cattle feed”.
The petition pointed to how vigilante attacks on cattle traders have increased and the notifications may vitiate the atmosphere.
“There are a number of incidents where cows, bulls or bullocks transported are generally seized either by the police or some anti-social elements. The police are also helpless before such anti-social elements, who are violating the fundamental right of citizens to carry [on] the trade of purchasing and selling the cattle,” it said.
Right to trade
The petitioner, whose organisation claims to work for the uplift of weaker sections including the butchers and cattle traders, said the fundamental right to carry on trade under Article 19 could be restricted only by the legislature and not through a delegated executive fiat which violates the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 itself.
The 1960 Act only intends to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals. It does not ban slaughter for food.
The notifications, the petitioner argued, are an affront to the right to freely practise religion under Article 25 and to the cultural identity of communities protected under Article 29 (protection of interests of minorities) of the Constitution.
“A right under Article 25 can be restricted on the grounds of public order morality and health,” the petitioner contended.
The petition noted that Section 38 of the 1960 Act, under which the notifications were issued, only permits the Centre to make rules in furtherance of the purpose of the Act and not override or rewrite the Act.
Rule 22
Zeroing in on Rule 22 of the Livestock Markets Rules, the petition said this provision creates “unconstitutional restrictions” on traders who use cattle markets – for many an ancestral and traditional occupation.
