HC orders closure of illegal slaughterhouses within 72 hours in U’khand

Nainital: Uttarakhand high court on Thursday ordered all the illegal slaughterhouses in the state to be “sealed within 72 hours” and directed to ensure that no animal is slaughtered on the streets or in open spaces. 

The division bench of acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari also directed the state government to constitute a committee for slaughterhouses “as per the letter dated April 26, 2012 issued by the Union ministry of environment and forest, if not already constituted, within a period of seven days.”

The directions come after Haridwar resident Parvez Alam had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) and placed before the court pictures of animals being slaughtered brutally.

Observing the pictures were disturbing, the bench remarked, “How can the authorities permit the slaughtering of animals in the streets, in villages and towns, is beyond our comprehension. Animals also have constitutional legal rights. The authorities cannot remain mute-spectators towards the slaughtering of animals, that too, in a very beastly manner,” the court said.

The court observed in the order, “It is the duty cast upon all the executive officers of the local self-government, municipal corporations, municipalities, nagar panchayats and other panchayats to ensure that no animal is slaughtered in the public streets/paths/roads and at open spaces, open to public gaze.”

The HC further directed the state government to ensure that no slaughterhouse is permitted to run without complying with the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011.

Kartikey Hari Gupta, the advocate for the petitioner, said that there are no proper facilities in slaughterhouses. He added that there is no proper flooring, water supply or ventilation in the slaughter houses. After which the court said that it is the duty of the statutory authorities, including police, to ensure that no illegal slaughtering takes place and the slaughterhouse must follow the standards laid down by the State Pollution Control Board and the Pollution Controlling Committees.

Earlier, a division bench of the HC had ordered that the slaughter of goats will not take place in the open during the festival of Eid and must be done in slaughterhouses only.