NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act is being “misused” to implicate innocent persons, the Allahabad High Court recently observed, putting the state’s law enforcement machinery under intense scrutiny.
In a recent order, the single judge bench of Justice Siddharth observed, “Act is being misused against innocent persons. Whenever any meat is recovered, it is normally shown as cow meat (beef) without getting it examined or analyzed by the Forensic Laboratory.” In most cases under this law, meat is not sent for analysis and accused persons continue to be in jail for an offence they may not have committed, Justice Siddharth said.
He added that offences under this law have a maximum sentence of seven years. The court was hearing a bail application of one Rahmuddin, accused of cow slaughter and sale of beef under sections 3, 5 and 8 of the Act.
The judge made the scathing remarks after learning that the accused had been in jail for over a month even when there was no allegation against him in the first information report. Rahmuddin’s lawyer also claimed that his client was not arrested from the spot of the alleged crime.
The court granted bail to Rahmuddin on certain conditions such as not tampering with evidence. In its order on October 19, the court also made observations on the menace of abandoned cattle and stray cows in Uttar Pradesh.
‘Way out has to be found to keep cows in shelters or with owners’
“Whenever cows are shown to be recovered, no proper recovery memo is prepared and one does not know where cows go after recovery. Goshalas do not accept the non-milching cows or old cows and they are left to wander on the roads.
Similarly, owners of the cows after milking, leave the cows to roam on roads, to drink drainage/ sewer water and eat garbage, polythene, etc,” the judge said. Cows and cattle on the road are menace to the traffic and a number of deaths have been reported due to them, the judge further said.
In rural areas, cattle owners who are unable to feed their livestock, abandon them. The judge also spoke about the fear in transporting cows. “Whether cows are on roads or fields, their abandonment adversely affects society. Some way out has to be found out to keep them either in cow shelters or with the owners, if UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act is to be implemented in letter and spirit,” the HC said.