December 22, 2020 1:18:54 pm
The Maharashtra Animal Conservation Act 1976 prohibits the slaughter, import, export and possession of beef.
The Nagpur court of the Bombay High Court recently held that mere possession of the skin of a dead animal would not constitute an offense under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act 1976, which prohibits slaughter, import, export and possession of beef.
The court of Justice VM Deshpande & Anil S. Kilor pointed out that there is no prohibition for the possession of fur from dead animals without the Law and further pointed out that even if the state government issues a circular / notice / order, prohibiting the possession of fur , said circular shall not prevail over the provisions of the statute.
The court issued the ruling on December 14 after hearing a guilty plea from one Shafiqullaha Kha, the driver of the van that was allegedly carrying the skin of dead cows. The petitioner sought to vacate the FIR against him under section 5A (prohibition of transporting cows, bulls, or oxen from anywhere within the state for slaughter purposes), 5B (prohibition of exporting cows, bulls, or oxen within the state, or any place outside for the sacrifice) and 5C (prohibition of possession of beef, bull or slaughtered ox) among others.
The prosecution had alleged that a van carrying animal skin was found in July 2018 and a person claiming to be chairman of the local Bajrang Dal unit filed a complaint and an FIR was registered at the Shivaji Nagar Police Station. The Police also said that they verified the complaint and found that the vehicle was carrying 187 skins of cow species, and the same was confirmed by the Livestock department.
The applicant’s advocate AV Bhide, who challenged the FIR, said that necessary documents were provided, including the Udyog Aadhar Memorandum, a license under the Maharashtra Establishments and Shops Act, and a bill prepared for the sale of raw fur and Therefore, no provision of state animal conservation law was violated.
However, Additional Prosecutor NS Rao, who appeared for the police, strongly opposed the statement and requested its dismissal.
After hearing the submissions, the court noted that while there were allegations that the applicant was carrying 187 cow skins in the truck, there were no allegations that he transported or exported cows, bulls, or oxen for slaughter purposes. Therefore, no offense constitutes against the applicant under the 1976 Act, the court said.
The bank led by Judge Deshpande observed: “There is no doubt that fur is not covered by the provisions of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act 1976. Therefore, there is no prohibition on the possession of fur from dead animals. and in the absence of such a prohibition, we have a convinced opinion that no offense under Section 5- (A), 5- (B), 5- (C) attracts in the present matter and, consequently, Section 9 and 9 – (A) (both providing punishments under the law) would not attract either ”.
While it annulled the FIR against the applicant, the court held: “In addition, in the absence of any legal provision prohibiting possession of the skin of a dead animal, even if the state government has issued a circular, notice or order prohibiting the possession of fur, said circular, notification or order that does not have statutory force will not prevail over the provisions of the law and to that extent, would be in contravention of the law. Therefore, the violation of any notification, circular or order with respect to to the possession of fur will not attract Section 188 (disregard of the legal authority of the public servant) of the Penal Code of India “.
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