The Gujarat High Court has directed that a notification be passed across the state prohibiting the slaughter of animals in public on the 31st of July and the 1st of August on the occasion of Eid-al-Adha. The Court directed that the notification similar to what has already been passed by Ahmedabad City should be extended state-wide.
The Gujarat High Court issued the order while hearing two PILs, one filed by Yash Shah, a Rajkot-based activist, and the Pranin Foundation. Notifications along the same lines had already been passed by the Police Commissioners of Ahmedabad and Surat. The notifications issued under section 144 of the CrPC “prohibit animal sacrifice on Eid-al-Adha, to be celebrated on August 1, at public places and at private places where it would be visible to the public.”
The notifications also mentioned that public slaughter of an animal on Eid would “hurt sentiments of people of other faiths and it would disrupt communal harmony.” The prohibition on public slaughter was also required in light of the Coronavirus crisis, they added. The Gujarat High Court bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala directed that notifications along the same lines “shall be issued by all the Police Superintendents of their respective districts across the State of Gujarat.”
The petitioners submitted that “there is a palpable concern amongst billions of Indian Citizens that if Bakri Eid is permitted to be celebrated in regular fashion, then that will be an invitation for the catastrophe to strike…and by not regulating the event of Bakri Eid, with all certainly, (Covid-19) will drastically increase the rampant spread of the pandemic.”
