Tamil Nadu govt moves SC against Madras HC ban on cow slaughter

New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government has petitioned the Supreme Court, challenging a Madras High Court order that directed the state to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered on Bakrid or any other day.

According to the plea, the May 27 high court order effectively imposed a blanket prohibition that contradicted a statutory scheme governing animal slaughter in the state and granted relief that the petitioner had not sought.

The high court order was passed on a plea seeking directions to prevent slaughter of cows in public places during Bakrid in Coimbatore, the state government said. The petitioner before the high court only sought implementation of existing laws and directions to ensure that animal sacrifice did not take place outside authorised slaughterhouses, and the authorities informed the court that necessary arrangements had been made to ensure the regulations were enforced, it said.


However, after observing that slaughter should be permitted only at designated slaughterhouses, the high court went on to direct the state to ensure that "no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day", Tamil Nadu said in the petition.

Such a directive amounts to a complete prohibition on cow slaughter across Tamil Nadu, even though the applicable legal framework only regulates slaughter, the state argued.

The Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act, 1958; the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998; the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023; and the relevant food safety regulations contemplate regulation of animal slaughter and not an absolute ban, the state submitted.

It argued that the high court went beyond the scope of the original writ petition and urged the apex court to set aside the ruling. The state also sought an interim stay on the operation of the high court's directions pending the disposal of the appeal.