Updated: December 10, 2020 8:34:21 am
The Karnataka BJP government presented and passed a bill in the state Assembly on Wednesday, which prohibits the slaughter of cows. (File photo)
The Karnataka BJP government presented and approved a bill in the state Assembly on Wednesday, which prohibits the slaughter of cows. The Opposition Congress and JDS went on strike, protesting the way the bill was passed without a debate in the House.
The Karnataka Bill for the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Livestock of 2020, which provides for a ban on all forms of slaughter of livestock and a strict punishment for offenders, is a revised version of a bill that is passed in 2010 when the BJP was in power.
.@INCKarnataka will boycott the assembly session tomorrow in protest against the undemocratic act of @ BJP4Karnataka.@CMofKarnataka He quickly passed the bill against the slaughter of cows without any discussion.
1/5
– Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) December 9, 2020
The 2010 bill was shelved in 2013 by the congressional government after it did not receive the governor’s consent. Congress had reverted to Karnataka’s less strict Cow Slaughter Prevention and Animal Preservation Act of 1964, which allows for the slaughter of cows with certain restrictions.
Although the 1964 law prohibited the slaughter of “any buffalo cow or calf”, it allowed the slaughter of oxen, buffalo, male or female, if a competent authority certified that they were older than 12 years or that they were incapacitated for breeding or consider sick.
According to the Karnataka Bill for the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Livestock 2020, the cattle have been designated as “cow, calf of cow and bull, ox and buffalo” and their slaughter is prohibited. The only exemptions under Bill 2020 are buffaloes 13 years of age and older and certified by a competent authority, livestock used in medical research, livestock certified for slaughter by a veterinarian to prevent the spread of disease, and highly livestock. sick.
Like the laws of 1964 and 2010, the new law passed in the state assembly also designates the slaughter of cattle as a recognizable crime, where arrests can be carried out without a warrant. The punishment, however, has been increased from three to seven years in prison or fines ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakhs or both.
In the 2010 bill that did not enter into force, the prescribed punishment ranged from one to seven years in prison or fines from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh. In the 1964 law, the punishment is six months in prison and a fine of up to 1000 rupees.
The new bill also prescribes new penalties for the transport of livestock, the sale of meat, and the purchase or disposition of livestock for slaughter: a prison term of three to five years and a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh. .
Read | UP’s cow slaughter law is being misused against innocents: Allahabad HC
After introducing the bill, Prabhu Chavan, Minister of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, said: “The bill establishes severe punishment for infractions and also provides power for the search and seizure of any establishment that includes vessels or vehicles”.
“It is considered necessary to repeal the Karnataka Law for the Prevention of the Slaughter of Cows and the Conservation of Livestock of 1964 to prohibit the slaughter of cattle and for the conservation and improvement of cattle breeds and to endeavor to organize agriculture and livestock in the terms of Article 48 of the Constitution of India through the enactment of comprehensive legislation, ” he said.
Wearing saffron shawls, all members of the BJP assembly attended the post-lunch session where the bill was introduced.
The Opposition Congress and JDS claimed that the bill was presented to the House out of nowhere.
Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who went on strike after the bill was passed, said: “Never in the history of the Karnataka legislature has a bill been crushed in the House in this way. . This bill was not mentioned at the Business Advisory Council meeting. We said that we would like to debate the bill, give us time, but the President has not allowed it. We will boycott the Chamber today and also tomorrow if this is how it is going to be administered ”.
Read also | Head of Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog: ‘Chip made from cow dung significantly reduces phone radiation’
“With the upcoming Gram Panchayat polls, they want to use this issue electorally and that is why they have passed the bill in great haste without allowing a debate,” Siddaramaiah said.
JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy said: “Yesterday at the Business Advisory Council meeting it was said that only urgent matters will be addressed and now a unilateral decision has been made to introduce the bill.”
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said the bill needed to be passed in the assembly on Wednesday, as it must be approved by the legislative council before Thursday night, when the legislative session is due to end.
Spokesperson Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said that the assembly’s Business Advisory Council meeting on Tuesday, which decided to shorten the session of the legislature, was informed that existing laws in the form of ordinances and special bills will be taken for approval, although the bills were not specifically mentioned. done. “This was also announced in the House,” he said.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
.
