Madras High Court slams authorities for not regulating camel slaughter

Pulling up the authorities for not taking steps to regulate camel slaughter, a Division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T. S. Sivagnanam said, “Since the authorities seem to be not able to have effective internal co-ordination to examine the issue as a whole, we feel a committee has to be appointed to make necessary recommendations to this court”

The committee would have representatives from animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries department, road transport, Chennai corporation, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Animal Welfare Board of India, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The Tamil Nadu Government should nominate an official as the committee chairman. The first meeting of the committee should be held within a week and preliminary recommendations shall be placed before the court before the next date of hearing, the bench said.

The bench posted for September 14, further hearing of the petitions from E. Seshan and People for Cattle in India which sought a direction to the authorities to prevent any transport of camels into the state by foot or through vehicles without complying with transport rules and their killing as religious sacrificing inside TN in violation of rules for slaughter of animals in places other than lawful slaughter houses.

The bench said the gruesome photographs filed along with the petition also did not seem to trouble the authorities. These photographs showed slaughtering of camels in public places and yet the Chennai corporation had the temerity to say that no slaughter of camel was taking place as no permission was granted. The IG of police (welfare) and the deputy commissioner (Health), Chennai corporation, said that no complaint had been received.