The Supreme Court on Friday stepped into the debate on cow vigilantism by asking six States, including Rajasthan, and the Centre to respond on a PIl that questioned the protection enjoyed by cow vigilante groups under various State laws.
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and AM Khanwilkar issued notices to the Centre and States of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Karnataka seeking their responses within three weeks.
The next hearing will take place on May 3.
The petitioner, Tehseen Poonawala, had stated in his petition that cow vigilantes or gau rakshaks had been indulging in violence and issuing threats against minorities and Dalits without any legal sanction.
The petitioner’s lawyer and senior advocate Sanjay Hegde cited a recent news report from Rajasthan where a man was beaten to death by gau rakshaks in Alwar. Underlining the concern highlighted in the petition of such groups being given a free run by the State, Hedge said the menace was fast spreading across the country which created a sense of fear and insecurity among communities and castes.
The petition drew the attention of the Court to various State laws supporting formation of such groups, for instance, The Gujarat Animal Prevention Act, 1954, The Maharashtra Animal Prevention Act, 1976, and The Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964.
Specific provisions in these laws protected people acting in good faith, which according to the petitioner was liable to be set aside as being unconstitutional.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar appeared for the Centre to submit that no notice had yet been issued on the petition although the Court had been examining the matter on earlier occasions too.
The Court had on October 21, 2016 prima facie agreed to look into the issue raised in the petition. Poonawala, who is an activist and a Congressman, had submitted to Court that the laws that offer protection to such groups act as a “catalyst” for them to indulge in violence to achieve their end. Hardly, do persons indulging in such crimes get punished for their acts, the petition added.