New Delhi, July 1: The Tamil Nadu government has filed a challenge in the Supreme Court against a Madras High Court order that mandated an immediate ban on cow slaughter across the state, enforcing a 1976 government directive.
The special leave petition (SLP) submitted by the Secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department is currently listed in the Supreme Court’s defect list, with no hearing date set yet.
In its petition, the Tamil Nadu government contests the order issued by the Madras High Court on May 27. The High Court directed the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) to ensure that no cows or calves are slaughtered during Bakrid or any other day throughout the state.
The state government argues that the High Court’s directives exceed the legal provisions governing animal slaughter in Tamil Nadu. According to the government, the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act of 1958 regulates animal slaughter under specific conditions but does not provide for a complete ban.
The petition also references the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughterhouse) Rules of 2001, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act of 1998, and the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules of 2023.
The SLP states that the original public interest petition only sought to ensure that animal slaughter occurs only in licensed slaughterhouses. However, the Madras High Court went further and imposed a complete ban on the slaughter of cows and calves throughout Tamil Nadu.
This order was passed by the vacation bench comprising Justice G.R. Swaminathan and Justice V. Lakshminarayanan while hearing a public interest petition filed by K. Surya Prasath, secretary of the youth wing of the Indu Makkal Kachi.
The petitioner alleged that temporary sheds were set up for cow slaughter in Coimbatore during Bakrid and sought directives to prevent cow slaughter in public places.
The High Court referenced Article 48 of the Constitution, stating that it is the state’s duty to take necessary steps to prevent the slaughter of cows, calves, and other dairy and draft animals.
The court also mentioned the 1976 government order that banned the slaughter of cows and calves in Tamil Nadu’s slaughterhouses, asserting that this order has the same legal effect and must be enforced.
Furthermore, the court clarified that no animal may be slaughtered outside authorized slaughterhouses, and the administration cannot permit slaughter at any other location.
In this context, the High Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that no cows or calves are slaughtered anywhere in the state, including on the eve of Bakrid. It also instructed the Chief Secretary and the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) to ensure strict compliance with this order by all relevant authorities.
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