India, July 14 -- The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Madras High Court order which directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered in the state. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing a plea filed by the state government challenging a May 27 order of the high court. The state government termed the order contrary to the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act, 1958. The Act permits the slaughter of cows aged over 10 years that are unfit for work and breeding, on the basis of a certificate issued by a competent authority. The apex court agreed to hear the matter and issued notice to the respondents, including the one on whose plea the high court had passed the order, seeking their replies. Also Read - Ahmedabad blasts: HC cites scale of terror, conspiracy to uphold death penalty for 38 IM operatives During the hearing, the bench orally observed that the last paragraph of the high court order prima facie required correction. In that paragraph, the high court had said, "We allow this writ petition with a direction to the state of Tamil Nadu to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day." The high court had also said that authorities, particularly the chief secretary and the additional director general of police (law and order), are obliged to issue suitable instructions to all officials concerned to ensure that there is no breach of this order. The Tamil Nadu government challenged the May 27 order of the high court, which directed the state authorities to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered in the state either on the eve of Bakrid on May 28 this year or on any other day.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.