CHENNAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has granted an interim stay on the implementation of rules banning the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter at animal fairs — notified by the central government in May — marking the first judicial pronouncement on an issue that has sparked off heated debate countrywide.
The court on Tuesday, in response to a public interest litigation filed by Madurai-based activist and lawyer S Selvagomathy, granted a four-week interim stay and has asked the union environment ministry and the Tamil Nadu government to respond to the petition.
In her petition — accessed by ET — Selvagomathy had argued: "… the 1st respondent [Union of India] has prohibited the members of various communities in the country, such as Muslims, Sikhs, and the backward classes and the Dalits, who as a matter of worship and offering, sacrifice animals falling within the expansive definition of the term cattle under the rules."
"I am glad we got the interim injunction. This is a gift, a relief, to all people of this country. This issue is beyond politics…," she told ET. Her contention is that the central government’s notification ran counter to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which permits cattle slaughter.
On May 23, the union environment ministry notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017, which spelt out fresh rules aimed at protection and welfare of cattle. This includes rules, which require written certification from both the seller and the buyer that the sale of cattle is not for slaughter.
The buyer — a bonafide farmer who produces dairy products — must certify that the cattle will not be sold within six months.
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