Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis categorically stated on Tuesday that his Government has no plans to ban the slaughter of animals other than cows, bulls and bullocks in the State. A day after Maharashtra’s Advocate General (AG) Sunil Manohar informed the Bombay High Court that the State Government was considering extending the ban on the slaughter, possession and consumption of cows, bulls and bullocks to other animals, including goats, the Chief Minister clarified that the media had “misinterpreted” the oral submission made by the AG to the high court.
Replying to queries from Shiv Sena members Arjun Khotkar and Sunil Prabhu, who sought clarification from the State Government on AG’s reported submission to the court, Fadnavis told the State Assembly: “I have spoken to the Advocate General on his reported statement. He tells me that his statement in the High Court on Monday has been misinterpreted”.
Fadnavis said that though there were no restrictions on his Government to ban slaughter of animals other than cows, bulls and bullocks, there were no such orders from the court to extend the ban to other animals.
“let me make it clear that Advocate General Sunil Manohar has not made any such submission (about extending the ban to other animals) on the behalf of the State Government. Nor has he made even a reference to that effect in the court,” the Chief Minister said. The Chief Minister also clarified that the State Government had not taken any stand on imposing a blanket ban on the slaughter of animals other than cows, bulls and bullocks.
Fadnavis’ clarification should be seen in the light of a directive given by the Bombay High Court to the Maharashtra Government on Monday to file its say before the court by April 20 on why it was restricting the ban on slaughter, possession and consumption to cows, bulls and bullocks and not including other animals like goats under the amended State’s animal preservation law.
Hearing a bunch of PIls challenging section 5 (d) of the recent Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act that banned the possession and consumption of meat of animals like cow, bull and bullock, the HC Bench had asked: “Why has the State banned only cows, bulls and bullocksIJ What about other animals like goatIJ”
On his part, Maharashtra’s Advocate General Sunil Manohar had responded to the query from the HC Bench, by saying: “This is just the start (banning of cows, bulls and bullocks). We may consider banning slaughter of other animals too. As of now the State felt it was necessary to protect cows, bulls and bullocks”.