Privacy Verdict to Have ‘Some Bearing’ in Beef Matters: SC

The Bombay HC in 2016 had decriminalised possession of beef in case of animals slaughtered outside Maharashtra.

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The Supreme Court on Friday said its verdict declaring right to privacy a fundamental right would have “some bearing” in matters related to the possession of beef in Maharashtra.

The apex court made the observation while hearing a batch of appeals filed against the Bombay High Court's 6 May 2016 verdict decriminalising the possession of beef in case of animals slaughtered outside the state.

A bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan was informed by an advocate that Thursday’s landmark judgement from a nine-judge Constitution bench, declaring right to privacy a fundamental right, was important for adjudication of the appeal.

"Yes, that judgement will have some bearing in these matters," the bench agreed.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said, “nobody would like to be told what to eat or how to dress”, while ruling that these activities come under the realm of the right to privacy.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for some of the petitioners, referred to the privacy judgement and said the right to eat food of one's choice is now protected under privacy.

She also told the bench that Maharashtra government's appeal challenging the High Court verdict was already pending before another bench of the apex court.

The bench, after hearing the submissions, posted the matter after two weeks.

The Maharashtra government had on 10 August moved the apex court challenging the High Court’s verdict striking down sections 5(d) and 9(b) of the Maharashtra Animals Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995, which criminalised and imposed punishment on persons found in possession of meat of cattle slaughtered in or outside the state, on the ground that it infringed upon a person’s “right to privacy”.

The court had issued a notice on the appeal and tagged the matter along with several pending pleas related to the issue.

Also Read: What Right to Privacy Means to an LGBTQ Beef-Eating Dalit Muslim

The High Court had termed "unconstitutional" the provisions which held that mere possession of beef was a crime, saying only "conscious possession" of cattle meat of in the state would be an offence.

The plea assailed the judgement, saying the restriction imposed by the 1995 Act on possession of cow, bull or bullock meat could not be interpreted and concluded to be an infringement of "right to privacy".

Earlier, the Maharashtra government had said that while saying that right to privacy forms part of the fundamental right to liberty, the High Court “ought to have appreciated that right to privacy was not yet designated as a fundamental right”.

The plea had said that if one goes by the verdict, then the obligation upon the state to prove "conscious possession" of beef would "constitute an unsurmountable circumstance readily available to the wrongdoer to escape sentence".

In its judgement, the High court had upheld the ban on slaughter of bulls and bullocks imposed by the Maharashtra government, but decriminalised possession of beef in case the animals that slaughtered outside the state.

Also Read: Right to Privacy Judgment: The Long and Short of It in 21 Points

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