High Court orders Govt to ban sale of beef in Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar, September 10 : A directive that can put BJP-PDP coalition government in an embarrassing situation and can stoke communal passion in the Muslim majority state of Jammu and Kashmir is a court ban on beef.
High Court has ordered the state government to ban the sale of beef in Jammu and Kashmir.
The division bench of Jammu High Court comprising justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and justice Janak Raj Kotwal issued the order on Wednesday over the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Parimoksh Seth against cow slaughter.
The bench ordered the state government to strictly implement an existing order which bans the sale of beef in the state. The court also directed the director general of police (DGP) to ensure strict compliance of the order on beef by issuing appropriate directions to all the senior superintendents (SSPs) and station house officers (SHOs) in the state. “Strict action shall be taken in accordance with law against those who indulge in this activity,” the HC observed.
Under section 298A of the RPC, intentionally killing or slaughtering a cow or like animal (including ox and buffalo) is a cognizable, non-bailable offence punishable with 10 years imprisonment and fine. Its section 298B says possessing the flesh such an animal is a cognizable, non-bailable offence punishable with imprisonment of one year and a fine.
The RPC was enacted in 1862 by the then Dogra king of the state while the IPC also came into force in India the same year.
The court also observed the divisional commissioner of Kashmir had not filed an appropriate response about smuggling, slaughtering of bovine animals and their subsequent sale in the Kashmir valley.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami termed the decision as totally “unacceptable”. “It is absolutely not possible to convince the Muslim community to go against their own religion, so we oppose it,” Jama’at head GM Bhat said in a press conference here today.
Bhat added that safeguarding Article 370 in this case becomes ‘totally irrelevant’. “If the state assembly passes the bill against beef sale and then even if Indian Parliament ratifies it, the order will still have no acceptability in the Muslim majority state,” he shared.
Senior separatist leader Masarat Alam led Muslim League also threatened to protests against the order by urging people in the valley to sacrifice cows during the coming Eid-ul-Zuha next week. “We will also sacrifice a cow in the city centre to register our protest against the sale of beef,” Bhat added.