SC Orders Nationwide Stay on Centre’s New Cattle Slaughter Rules

Supreme Court has suspended the government order that banned the trade of cattle for slaughter.

This order came after the Centre told the court that they will reexamine the rules.

(Photo: Neeraj Gupta/The Quint)

The Supreme Court, on 11 July, stayed the central government’s new rules banning the sale of cattle for slaughter. The apex court said that an earlier stay by the Madras High Court would be implemented nationwide, as “livelihoods cannot be subjected to uncertainties”.

This order came after the Centre told the court that they will reexamine the rules. According to reports, the Centre told the court that public protests across the country have forced them to rethink the slaughter ban rules.

Also Read: Ban on Cattle Sale For Slaughter: All Your Questions Answered

The apex court ordered a three-month stay on the rules, the Times of India reported.

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, on 30 May, stayed the Centre’s cattle trade rules for four weeks.

The court had then observed that it was an individual’s right to choose his food, while hearing a public interest litigation against the Centre’s recent notification imposing strict restrictions on cattle trade and slaughter across the country.

Also Read: Selling of Cows For Slaughter Banned: Here’s What You Need to Know

In the PIL, Madurai-based activist and lawyer S Selvagomathy argued that according to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, the Centre had no authority to ban the sale of animals in a market for slaughter. She further argued that the new notifications offended the Right to Freedom of Religion and the Protection of Interests of Minorities guaranteed in the Constitution.

In May, the central government had notified new rules with regard to the buying and selling of cattle, and banned the sale of cattle for slaughter in animal markets. Called the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2016, the new rules were formulated under the PCA Act of 1960.

Also Read: Decoded: Cattle Market Rules, ‘Beef Ban’

While the government didn’t technically ban cattle slaughter across the country, they made the slaughter of bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes etc difficult.

Also Read: Why Marathwada’s Farmers Dread The New Cattle Law

(With inputs from The News Minute.)