Declare Cow As The National Animal: Allahabad High Court

INTRODUCTION

• Javed, the applicant, had been accused of slaughtering a cow.
• He had committed theft by stealing the cow and later killed it by beheading it.
• The meat of the cow was also found beside it.
• The applicant had committed the offense of cow slaughtering in the past as well.

RELEVANT SECTIONS

The accused was charged with the following sections.

• Section 379 of IPC- This section lays down punishment for theft.
• Section 3 of Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act- This section prohibits the killing of cows. It states no person shall slaughter, cause or offer to slaughter a cow, bull, and bullock in any place within Uttar Pradesh.
• Section 5 of Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act- This section prohibits selling, disposing, or purchasing. Cows or calves for slaughtering.
• Section 8 of Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act- This section talks about the penalty for hiding such information.

STATEMENTS BY THE COURT

• The Allahabad High Court denied bail to Javed and observed that cow should be declared as a national animal and the protection of cow protection should be made a fundamental right.
• Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav remarked that when a country’s faith and culture get affected, it makes the country fragile.
• Taking into consideration that this was not the first offense of the accused, the court stated that if he is released on bail, there are chances that he might commit the same offenses again, which would spoil the environment of the society.
• Justice Yadav also mentioned that according to scientific research, the cow is the only animal that inhales and exhales oxygen. Hence the country will prosper if the cows are protected.

OBSERVATIONS MADE BY COURT

• The right to eat beef can never be considered as a fundamental right as the right to life lies above the right to kill.
• No one can get the right to kill a cow as the cow is useful even when it becomes old and sick. Its dung and urine are used for agricultural purposes and above all, it is worshipped as a mother.
• Even Muslim rulers like Babur, Humayun, and Akbar had banned the sacrifice of cows in their religious festivals.
• Cow slaughter was made a punishable offense by the Nawab of Mysore, Hyder Ali.
• The Supreme Court, Parliament, and Legislative Assembly have also made rules for the protection of cows.
• Someone's right to life cannot be snatched away merely for another's pleasures of taste, and that the right to life supersedes the right to kill.

DO YOU THINK COW SLAUGHTER SHOULD BE BANNED?