The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to grant any relief to beef traders, and urged them not to make it "a religious or a prestige issue."
“Since the law has come into effect now the authorities are duty bound to take action if slaughter is carried out. Please do not make this a religious and prestige issue,” Justice V M Kanade said here on Monday. The court was hearing an application filed by a beef dealers' association, which has challenged the ban on beef sale.
Bombay Suburban Beef Dealers' Welfare Association had said that the new law -- Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, which bans slaughter of bullocks and bulls, cannot be enforced till it is not notified in the official gazette.
But the Union Government on Monday told the court that a notification had already been issued in the government gazette. The government counsel also produced a copy of the gazette. The court thereafter refused to interfere in the matter, and said the authorities were bound to implement the new law.
The beef traders have sought to intervene in a petition filed by the Bhartiya Gauvansh Rakshan Sanvardhan Parishad. The petition seeks enforcement of the new law.
During the last hearing, the Bombay High Court had directed the Mumbai Police Commissioner and the Municipal Commissioner to make sure that the slaughter of bulls and bullocks is stopped at the Deonar abbatoir. The petitioners have sought the implementation of new law across all the slaughter houses of the State.
