The Supreme Court has granted an interim stay on a Madras High Court order that directed a ban on the slaughter of cows and calves in Tamil Nadu on any day, including during the Bakrid festival.
The High Court order was passed by a vacation bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan while hearing a public interest petition filed by K. Surya Prasanth, a Hindu Makkal Katchi functionary from Coimbatore. The petitioner alleged that cows were being illegally slaughtered during Bakrid by setting up temporary sheds in public places.
In its directions, the High Court had said that animals should be slaughtered only in properly licensed slaughterhouses and that cows and calves should not be slaughtered in the state.
Challenging this, the Tamil Nadu government moved an urgent appeal before the Supreme Court. A bench led by Justice Vikram Nath heard the matter and stayed the High Court’s order.
The Supreme Court also issued notices seeking responses from the petitioner Surya Prasanth, the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police, the Coimbatore Collector and others in connection with the case.
