On Monday, the Allahabad High Court made some very pertinent observations about how provisions of law against the slaughter of cows were being misused in Uttar Pradesh. Granting bail to one Rahmuddin, the court observed, “Act is being misused against innocent persons. Whenever any meat is recovered, it is normally shown as cow meat (beef) without getting it examined or analysed by the Forensic Laboratory. In most of the cases, meat is not sent for analysis.”
The court further said, “Accused persons continue in jail for an offence that may not have been committed at all and which is triable by Magistrate Ist Class, having maximum sentence upto 7 years. Whenever cows are shown to be recovered, no proper recovery memo is prepared and one does not know where cows go after recovery.”
Pondering over the fate of ‘rescued’ cows, the court said, “Goshalas do not accept the non-milching cows or old cows and they are left to wander on the roads. Similarly, owner of the cows after milking, leave the cows to roam on roads, to drink drainage/sewer water and eat garbage, polythene, etc. Moreover, cows and cattle on the road are menace to the traffic and number of deaths have been reported due to them.” It added, “In the rural areas cattle owners who are unable to feed their live stock, abandon them. They cannot be transported outside the State for fear of locals and police. There are no pastures now. Thus, these animals wander here and there destroying the crops. Earlier, farmers were afraid of ‘Neelgai’ (Vanroj an antelope) now they have to save their crops from the stray cows.”
Rahmuddin, who had been in jail for a month, charged under sections 3,5 and 8 of the UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, was granted bail by Justice Siddharth J who observed, “There is no allegation against the applicant in the FIR. Counsel for the applicant has submitted that the applicant was not arrested from the spot. The offence is triable by Magistrate.”
The entire order may be read here:
Related:
INVESTIGATION: The Missing Cows of Gujarat
INVESTIGATION- Part II: Disappearing Bullocks, Missing Cows
Three suspected Bangladeshi cattle-smugglers lynched in Assam