Beef Ban on Eid Not Lifted by Bombay High Court

Mumbai:

A stay on beef ban is a decision that should be taken by the state government, the Bombay High Court has said, refusing to stay the ban temporarily. The court was hearing a petition by various groups to relax the ban on beef for three days during the Muslim festival of Bakri Eid, which involves the sacrifice of calves and bulls and is to be held over the weekend.

A bench headed by Justice Abhay S Oak said it could not take a drastic decision of staying the provisions of the law that will temporarily lift the ban.

In March, the Maharashtra government had banned the slaughter of bulls and calves in the state, where cow slaughter was already illegal. It made possession, transportation and consumption of beef a punishable offence.

The ban became a political issue after farmers -- who were finding it hard to sell their old bullocks -- and beef traders started protest against it.

The issue was taken up by Republican Party of India (A) -- an ally of the ruling BJP -- which contended that the government was doing an injustice to the minority community and the farmers.

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The Muslim Rashtriya Manch -- a wing of the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS - also launched a signature campaign demanding rehabilitation of those affected by the beef ban, especially the Qureishi community.

But the state government has made it clear that there would be no going back on the law, though it would take steps to rehabilitate people whose livelihood has been hit.

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Last week, the Supreme Court refused to uphold a temporary ban on meat sale in Mumbai imposed by the state government on the occasion of a Jain festival. The court had said that "a ban cannot be forced down someone's throat" and a "spirit of tolerance" was of paramount importance.