The Hindu : Cow slaughter: offences will be non-bailable

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 12, 2003

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Cow slaughter: offences will be non-bailable

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Aug. 11. The Union Cabinet today decided to bring a Bill in the current session of Parliament itself to ensure a nationwide ban on cow-slaughter.

The new Bill is different from the one proposed a few months ago in that it seeks to invoke Entry 17 in the Concurrent List of the Constitution which deals with "prevention of cruelty to animals". The earlier proposal had envisaged invoking Entry 15 of the State List of the Constitution dealing with "preservation of animals".

The change in strategy came about since under the earlier proposal, legislatures of at least two States had to initially recommend to the Centre to bring about a Central law and after the Centre did so, it would be applicable automatically to only Union Territories and those States that had made the recommendations. In other States, it would be applicable only if resolutions were passed in legislation adopting it.

The new proposal seeks to bring about a ban on cow slaughter automatically across the country as it is based on an Entry in the Concurrent List of the Constitution.

Announcing the decision, the Union Minister and Cabinet spokesperson, Sushma Swaraj, said that following today's decision, the earlier proposal stood withdrawn. "At the Cabinet meeting, where the earlier proposal was cleared, the Union Agriculture Ministry had been directed to look at other options. Now, it has come out with a new draft. It removes the limitations of the earlier proposal."

While Ms. Swaraj declined to give further details on the ground that Parliament was in session and propriety demanded that the Bill be placed before Parliament before being publicised, official sources said that its main highlight was that offences under it would be cognisable and non-bailable. Offenders would attract a punishment of a minimum of two years and a maximum of seven years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine up to Rs. 10,000.

The Bill also provided for a punishment of imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to Rs. 10,000 for anyone found guilty of exporting live cows for the purpose of slaughter or selling beef and cowhide. A fine of up to Rs. 5,000 would be imposed in case anyone injected cows with chemicals or other substances to improve lactation.

Among other things, the Bill provides for establishment of `goshalas' for the maintenance and care of stray, disabled, barren or abandoned cows and provides for officers above the rank of Sub-Inspector of Police to stop and search vehicles suspected of being used for transporting cows for slaughter.

The preamble of the draft Bill states that the "cow is the embodiment of divine virtues like love, compassion, benevolence, tolerance and non-violence".

But, the "cow has been subjected to inhuman cruelty and atrocities in the past, which still continues resulting in disturbances of law and order and breach of peace, alarming depletion in its population, decline in its growth rate and sharp reduction in cow-human ratio".

It said that "our health, prosperity, high quality, low-cost, eco-friendly, employment-oriented, sustainable organic agriculture to a large extent depends upon the cow and its progeny" and that it was expedient in the nation's interest to prevent its slaughter."

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