Will allow foreigners to consume beef only if law permits: Haryana govt

New Delhi: The Haryana government on Sunday clarified chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s remark that the state would offer special license for foreigners to consume beef, saying it would be possible only if any such provision was there in the act.

“There is a ban on liquor in Gujarat. But there is a special permission under which foreigners can consume alcohol. Likewise the Haryana CM was asked whether there would be any special permission under which foreigners could eat beef in the state to which,” Jawahar Yadav, officer on special duty (OSD) to the Haryana CM, told ANI.

He further said that to the question, Khattar had said, ”People of Haryana do not eat beef and are against cow slaughter. But it would be possible only if there is any provision in the act.”

Yadav also said that according to his knowledge, there was no such provision in the act which allows for any special permission.

“Khattar has said that it was an issue of the analysis of the act and if there is any such provision, then the decision on this regard would be made accordingly,” he said.

Khattar had said the opposition to eating beef was not about anyone in particular, but reflected the feelings of the society. Foreign expats working in the state could get a special license for eating beef.

The Haryana government had introduced a stringent law banning the sale and eating of beef as well as trafficking and slaughtering of cows, with rigorous imprisonment of 3 to 10 years for violations.

President Pranab Mukherjee had approved the law in November 2015.