From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: Facing stiff opposition in poll-bound Meghalaya and other states, the Centre on Monday admitted that the ban on cow slaughter is infructuous in view of the Supreme Court’s stay order and “difficulties” in the rule for which it is considering changes.
In a letter to Shillong MP Vincent H Pala, Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change under which the ban comes, said the matter is sub-judice following stay order of the Supreme Court last July.
“The government has also received a number of representations on the difficulties arising from the rules and is examining them at present for change,” he said in the letter.
Pala, through a private member bill, had accused the ruling BJP of trying to implement the ban on cow slaughter through backdoor means following a hue and cry and intervention by the Apex Court. He had said the ruling party was wary of the repercussions of the controversial order and was adopting a circuitous method.
Pala had moved the private member bill opposing any ban on cow slaughter in the country which he felt will not only create a food crisis but also deal a big blow to the fundamental rights of minorities.
The Centre tried to ban cow slaughter by amending the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules 2017.
Tens of thousands of cattle are sold annually for slaughter and many more are smuggled across the vast and porous Indo-Bangladesh border mostly through the North East. The ban also raised a hue and cry in the region where beef is one of the staples.
Following the stay first by the Madurai High Court and then by the Supreme Court the matter became sub-judice, Vardhan said and added, “The government is examining the difficulties arising out of the ban and may consider appropriate changes in the law.”