Plea In SC To Lift Ban On Camel Sacrifice In Tamil Nadu

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging a Madras High Court order banning camel slaughter in Tamil Nadu.

Filed by Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi, the special leave petition reportedly contended that the high court order had adversely affected the entire Muslim community, rendering them incapable of sacrificing animals during Bakrid on September 13.

The impugned order was recently upheld by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R. Mahadevan, that observed: “We are not inclined to entertain this petition for the simple reason that what it seeks in effect is nullification of the interim order passed by us in W.P.No.13749 of 2015 and other connected matters. The main writ petitions are already pending where we will examine all the issues and an interim order has been granted only qua sacrifice of camels.”

The Bench had dismissed the arguments that camel slaughter was an essential part of the local Bakrid practices. It noted the lack of slaughter facilities in the state, as well as the issue of transportation of the animals from far-off places, including Rajasthan, where shifting camels out of the state has been banned.

“You cannot insist on sacrificing camel. Nobody prohibits sacrifice, but this animal is not in Tamil Nadu and it is not native to the state,” the Bench was quoted as saying.

The court had made it clear that jurisdictional police officers would be held responsible if camels were brought to their areas and slaughtered.