Bombay HC asks police to check on sale of beef, illegal cattle slaughter

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has directed the Mumbai Police to inform it about steps taken to check the illegal slaughter of cattle and sale of beef in the city.

A bench of Justices R M Savant and S S Shinde on Tuesday also directed the Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP), Zones I and III, to file their respective affidavits on an "action plan", or steps they proposed to take to clamp down on illegal slaughter houses or meat shops.

The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by a city resident alleging that "beef was being sold openly in areas such as Nagpada, Agripada and Dongri" in the city.

Petitioner Arun Kabadi claimed in his plea that even though he had made several complaints to the police in this regard, they had failed to take any action.

Kabadi's lawyer Raju Gupta told the court that in March this year, another bench of the HC had directed the DCPs of zones I and III to take cognisance of the petitioner's complaints, and to take "appropriate action" against the illegal meat shops.

The bench had also asked the police to take the help of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Health department to check the alleged illegal sale of beef in the areas concerned.

"However, the police has failed to take the requisite steps and many meat shops and slaughter houses continue to operate without valid licences. Several of them also continue to sell beef despite the ban on the same by the state government," the petitioner said.

The police, meanwhile, told the court that since the March order, it had imposed fines on 53 meat shops that were found to be operating without valid licences in the areas mentioned by the petitioner.

The petitioner, however, sought that owners of these meat shops must not merely be fined under the BMC Act, but be "booked by the police under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for the illegal slaughter and sale of beef".

The bench then directed the DCPs to file their respective affidavits by September 12.

"We want you (the police) to take prompt action. You ought to be proactive and ensure that all these illegal businesses are stopped immediately," the bench said.