High Court’s big comment: ‘Cow sacrifice is not an essential part of Islam’, new rule came before the festival

Just before the festival of Bakrid, a big news is coming out from West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court has clearly refused to put an interim stay on the rules related to animal slaughter made by the Mamata Banerjee government of the state. The court said in clear words that the upcoming notification of May 13 of the state government is not a new guideline, rather it is a process of properly implementing the old orders given by the court in the year 2018.

Court’s complete ban on slaughtering animals in the open

While hearing the case, the division bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen has issued very strict instructions to the West Bengal government. The High Court has said that the government should clearly add in this notification that there will be a complete ban on the slaughter of any animal (including cow and buffalo) in any public place or open area. This means that now animals will not be slaughtered on the streets or in open fields during the festival.

Cow sacrifice is not a religious requirement – ​​High Court

During this hearing, the High Court has also made a very important and big comment. The court said that sacrificing a cow on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid) is not an essential or integral part of the religion of Islam. The High Court reiterated this point by citing the historical and old decision of the Supreme Court (Hanif Qureshi case). Along with this, the state government was ordered to make this comment and rule of the court also a part of the government notification.

No animal will be allowed to be slaughtered without a special certificate.

Under the new rules of the West Bengal government, the laws regarding animal slaughter in the state have now been made very stringent. According to the new rules, now it will be mandatory to obtain a ‘Fit for Slaughter’ certificate issued by doctors before slaughtering any animal. Without this no animal can be sacrificed or slaughtered. It is also clear in the government rules that only those animals can be slaughtered whose age is more than 14 years or which have become completely disabled due to some serious disease or injury.

Argument of the petitioners- ‘It will be very difficult to make sacrifice’

The petitioners who reached the court against these strict rules of the state government, which included ruling party TMC MLA Akhruzzaman and representatives of several Muslim organizations, expressed their concerns in the court. Senior advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing on his behalf, argued that due to these new rules it will become almost impossible for people living in rural areas to offer Bakrid sacrifice. Apart from this, he also said that it will have a negative impact on the rural economy. The petitioners appealed to the court that in view of this special festival, some relaxation should be given in the rules.

High Court’s stance – There will be no ban, but take a decision on exemption soon

The Calcutta High Court, while listening to the demand of the petitioners, refused to impose any restrictions on the rules, but also understood the sensitivity of the festival. The court directed the state government to act expeditiously on the applications for special exemption or permission under Section 12 of the Act. Since the festival of Eid is scheduled to be celebrated on May 27-28, the court has ordered the government to take a decision on these petitions within the next 24 hours.

The court’s final decision on the constitutional challenge is yet to come.

The High Court has currently refused to grant any interim relief on these petitions challenging the validity of the animal slaughter rules and its legality. The court made it clear that unless a law is declared completely unconstitutional by the court, it will be considered constitutional and valid. The final decision on this entire matter and the main issue related to the validity of the law will be given only after a detailed and complete hearing of both the parties.