NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to pass any urgent order on a petition seeking strict implementation of an advisory issued by the city government to deal with illegal slaughtering of animals on Eid al-Adha. The festival will be observed on Thursday.
“This is not a matter which cannot wait for two days. We are in the last week of vacation… We are not going to entertain this. It is our discretion to decide if it is urgent or not,” a vacation bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Manoj Jain remarked, posting the matter before a regular bench on July 3.
The bench added, “In our opinion, this matter be taken up for hearing by the roster bench and not by the vacation bench in the last week of vacation. Let it be heard on July 3 by the roster bench, before whom the main petition is pending.” Petitioner Ajay Gautam said the urgency was that 5 lakh animals may be sacrificed on Thursday during the festival also known as ‘Bakrid.’
The applicant sought strict implementation of an advisory issued by Secretary-cum-Commissioner (Development) of the Delhi Government on June 14 which stated that “it is feared that a lot many illegal animal markets and illegal slaughtering may come up in different parts of the national capital on the eve of Eid”. The advisory referred to Rule 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, which states that no person shall slaughter any animal within a municipal area except in a slaughterhouse recognised or licensed by the authority concerned.
It also referred to another legal provision, stating that camels cannot be slaughtered for food purposes. The plea said the Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1994, strictly prohibits slaughtering of cows in the national capital. It requested the authorities to take suitable precautionary measures for enforcing laws relating to the welfare of animals to stop the illegal killing of animals during Eid-ul-Adha and to take stringent action against offenders.