HC seeks Mufti government's view on cow slaughter; NC to bring bill to scrap beef ban law in J&K

SRINAGAR: The J&K high court has asked the state government to give its opinion on a petition seeking to scrap the legal provisions criminalising slaughter and sale of bovines in the state. The petitioner, Afzal Qadri, a retired professor of Kashmir University, argued that the current law banning bovine slaughter and sale interfered with the right to equality, right to life, right to practice religion and protection of minorities guaranteed by the Constitution.

Another division bench of the high court had last week asked the government to enforce the beef ban in the tate, triggering widespread protests across the Valley. The government also shunted out additional advocategeneral Vishal Sharma for ‘failing to defend' its stand before the HC, which directed to enforce the ban.

However, the issue has exposed the strains in the PDP-BJP coalition government. In response to the court order, PDP claimed that the government would not use force to implement the law, while BJP called for strict enforcement of the law.

In Wednesday's order, the court said that the petition would not hamper or bar legislators from repealing the provisions questioned from the colonial era Ranbir Penal Code that governs J&K. The Opposition National Conference and few other MLAs have decided to introduce separate bills in the upcoming assembly session to scrap the beef ban law.

Under Section 298A of the Ranbir Penal Code, intentionally killing or slaughtering a cow is a cognisable non-bailable offence punishable with 10 years imprisonment and fine.