Delhi HC refuses urgent order on plea to implement advisory against illegal animal slaughter on Eid
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court Wednesday refused to pass an urgent order on a plea seeking strict implementation of a Delhi government advisory to deal with illegal slaughter of animals on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.
Eid-ul-Adha will be observed on Thursday.
A vacation bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Manoj Jain listed the plea before a regular bench on July 3.
"This is not a matter which cannot wait for two days. We are in the last week of vacation... We are not going to entertain this. It is our discretion to decide if it is urgent or not," the bench said.
It added, "In our opinion, this matter be taken up for hearing by the roster bench and not by the vacation bench in the last week of vacation. Let it be heard on July 3 by the roster bench, before whom the main petition is pending."
Petitioner Ajay Gautam said the urgency was that five lakh animals may be sacrificed on Thursday during the festival.
The applicant sought strict implementation of an advisory issued by Secretary-cum-Commissioner (Development) of the Delhi Government on June 14 which stated that "it is feared that a lot many illegal animal markets and illegal slaughtering may come up in different parts of the national capital on the eve of Eid".
The advisory referred to Rule 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, which states that no person shall slaughter any animal within a municipal area except in a slaughterhouse recognised or licensed by the authority concerned.
It also referred to a rule of Food Safety and Standards (Food products standards and food additives) Regulations, 2011, which states that camels cannot be slaughtered for food purposes. It also said the Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1994, strictly prohibits slaughtering of cows in Delhi.
The advisory requested the authorities to take suitable precautionary measures for enforcing laws relating to the welfare of animals to stop the illegal killing of animals during Eid-ul-Adha and to take stringent action against offenders.
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Pal to visit Hubballi & Vijayapura to interact with farmers affected by Waqf Board action: BJP MP
Bengaluru (PTI): BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Tuesday said the Chairperson of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Jagdambika Pal will visit Hubballi and Vijayapura in Karnataka on November 7 to interact with farmers allegedly affected by Waqf Board's "predatory action".
The response came days after Surya had requested Pal to invite farmers from Vijayapura district as witnesses to discuss their land disputes with the Waqf Board.
"Chairman of JPC on Waqf has kindly consented to my request to visit Hubli (Hubballi) and Bijapur (Vijayapura) on 7th November to interact with farmers affected by the Waqf’s predatory action. Chairman will interact with farmer organisations, Mutts and petitions given to him will be placed before JPC," the Bengaluru South MP, who is a member of the Committee, said.
In a October 29 letter, Surya highlighted about his recent meeting with a delegation of farmers from Vijayapura district and other areas in the vicinity and had requested Pal to visit the affected regions in Karnataka to receive complaints and grievances and also have a public hearing with the farmers adversely impacted by the Waqf Board's action.
"These farmers, who have cultivated their lands for nearly a century, maintain records dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. In recent months, however, many of them have been served notices declaring their lands as Waqf property, without any accompanying evidence or explanation. The scale of these claims is substantial, with nearly 1,500 acres being designated as Waqf property in their village alone," he alleged in his letter to Pal.
According to him, the farmers claimed that apart from being served notices, changes have been made in the RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops), 'pahani' and mutation registers for some of the land parcels without following the due process of law.
Following allegations by a section of farmers from Vijayapura district that their lands were marked as Waqf properties, Karnataka Chief Minister Sidddaramaiah has said that none of them will be evicted, and notices issued to them will be withdrawn.
