At a time when the BJP, which has been advocating a tough anti-cow slaughter law, is at the helm of Government, a Delhi court has observed that the Centre should frame policy to protect cattle as they are “national wealth”.
The court made the observation while sentencing seven members of a Mewat gang to life imprisonment for firing at policemen who were trying to rescue cows that were being illegally taken by them for slaughtering.Additional Sessions Judge Kamini lau said the Government should step in and draft a national policy to protect and take care of the rescued cattle, which are being rampantly released on ‘superdari’ (undertaking) to those who are being booked for the violation of special laws relating to protection of animals.
“This they do by taking advantage of lacuna in the existing law, which is totally silent on how these rescued animals are required to be dealt with. Under no circumstances can these animals/cattle be handed over to the same persons from whose clutches they have been rescued.“This lacuna in law, rather mischief in law, needs urgent attention of the law framers so that it is plugged at the earliest. Cattle wealth of the country has to be protected at any cost not only because it is connected to important issues of national health but also because it’s an issue which is closely knitted to religious beliefs and sentiments of a class of society which have to be respected,” the court said.
The court said that in order to fulfil the constitutional obligations, “it is desirable for the Government of India to step in and seriously draft out a National Policy where the animals/cattle so rescued, particularly the milch cattle which are the national wealth of our country, are protected, preserved and taken care of”.
The court’s 538-page judgement came in a case relating to an encounter between a gang of cattle lifters from Mewat, on the outskirts of the national capital, and the Delhi police in the Outer Delhi district on the intervening night of January 18-19, 2013, when the accused were trying to flee by taking away the animals for the purpose of slaughtering.
It awarded the jail term to Uttar Pradesh residents Anwar, Ankur Kumar, Sanwar, Khalid, Tasleem, Hasrat and Asif for the offences of attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, obstructing public servant in discharging duty, assaulting and voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty under the IPC.They were also held guilty under the provisions of the Delhi Agriculture Cattle Preservation Act and Prevention of damage to Public Property Act.
The court took the assistance of Satellite Map and downloaded screen shots from the Internet to recreate the scene of crime and determine the route allegedly taken by the accused in their vehicle and by the police teams in their hot pursuit.