New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a writ petition filed by Congress leader, columnist and model, Tahseen Poonawala, to take immediate and appropriate actions against the vigilantes in the garb of ‘Gau Rakshak Dals’ (Cow Protection Groups) who have been spreading violence and committing atrocities against Dalits and minorities in the name of protection of Cow and other bovine species.
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitav Roy after hearing senior counsel Sanjay Hegde and counsel Shezad Poonawala sought the response of the Centre and six other states.
Poonawala has sought a ban on such groups on the ground that they were operating illegally in several parts of the country allegedly attacking and killing people in the name of protecting the cow. He likened the ‘Gau rakshaks’ to the now disbanded ‘salwa judum’.
