Months after wave of banning sale of beef swept Maharashtra, the beef-ban tide has now turned north.
A division bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court h as banned sale of beef in the state and has directed Director General of Police (DGP) to ensure that appropriate directions are issued to all SSPs/SPs/SHOs for enforcement of ban across the state.
The direction came on Wednesday, September 8, after a division bench comprising Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Janak Raj Kotwal was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Parimoksh Seth, a Jammu-based daily State Times reported.
According to the report, the PIL stated that inspite of the fact that penal provisions of RPC (Ranbir Penal Code. Indian Penal Code or IPC does not apply in J&K;) make slaughtering or killing of bovine animals an offence punishable under Section 298-A and possession of such slaughtered animal is punishable under Section 298-B of the RPC, yet slaughtering and sale of such slaughtered animals is rampant in some parts of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The litigant also submitted that the practice of allowing sale of beef goes on with the active connivance of the authorities who are otherwise supposed to keep a check , which is severely affecting the religious sentiments of a section of the society , the State Times report added.
While there is no central law banning the sale or consumption of beef, many states including Jammu and Kashmir prohibit cow slaughter.
However, unlike other Indian states, beef is not a staple meat for Jammu and Kashmir which is largely a mutton-consuming state.
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