Illegal slaughter to be criminal offence in Uttar Pradesh?
LUCKNOW / MEERUT: Given CM Aditya Nath Yogi's focus on the subject, UP could soon become the first state to make illegal slaughter of animals a criminal offence.
So far, neither the IPC nor the CrPC have any provision to deal with illegal slaughter; it is dealt with under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and no one is afraid of the Rs 50 penalty.
“While there is a specific Act to check cow slaughter, there is no law to prevent illegal slaughter of other animals,“ a government official said. Since the BJP government has launched an offensive against illegal slaughtering of all animals, UP's municipal corporations and nagar palikas feel there is a need for a strict law on the subject.
A March 21closed-door meeting of the UP chief secretary with the principal secretaries for law, environment, urban development and animal husbandry to discuss illegal animal slaughter concluded that a specific law was needed to shut illegal slaughterhouses.
Veterinary officials in UP have already advocated bringing a law to make illegal slaughter a cognisable offence. “If such a law is framed, UP would be the first state in India to make illegal slaughtering of animals a criminal offence,“ an official said.
According to UP Pollution Control Board estimates, only 45 slaughterhouses in UP are licensed to operate and around 140 have been ordered to close.
On Wednesday , authorities shut several illegal abattoirs in an unprecedented crackdown. Seven meat-processing units in Meerut, three abattoirs in Aligarh, and one abattoir and 16 meat shops in Mathura were sealed. Seven “illegal“ shops selling meat in Murga Phatak area of Mathura were demolished.
“The units did not have mandatory approvals,“ said Meerut SP Alok Priyadarshi.
“Some did not have compliance reports or log books. Some units couldn't prove they were getting meat from legal abattoirs. We will recommend revoking their licences,“ said Ankit Singh, executive engineer, PCB, Meerut.
Owners of meat-processing units in Meerut, however, said the units were being unfairly targeted.
So far, neither the IPC nor the CrPC have any provision to deal with illegal slaughter; it is dealt with under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and no one is afraid of the Rs 50 penalty.
“While there is a specific Act to check cow slaughter, there is no law to prevent illegal slaughter of other animals,“ a government official said. Since the BJP government has launched an offensive against illegal slaughtering of all animals, UP's municipal corporations and nagar palikas feel there is a need for a strict law on the subject.
A March 21closed-door meeting of the UP chief secretary with the principal secretaries for law, environment, urban development and animal husbandry to discuss illegal animal slaughter concluded that a specific law was needed to shut illegal slaughterhouses.
Veterinary officials in UP have already advocated bringing a law to make illegal slaughter a cognisable offence. “If such a law is framed, UP would be the first state in India to make illegal slaughtering of animals a criminal offence,“ an official said.
According to UP Pollution Control Board estimates, only 45 slaughterhouses in UP are licensed to operate and around 140 have been ordered to close.
On Wednesday , authorities shut several illegal abattoirs in an unprecedented crackdown. Seven meat-processing units in Meerut, three abattoirs in Aligarh, and one abattoir and 16 meat shops in Mathura were sealed. Seven “illegal“ shops selling meat in Murga Phatak area of Mathura were demolished.
“The units did not have mandatory approvals,“ said Meerut SP Alok Priyadarshi.
“Some did not have compliance reports or log books. Some units couldn't prove they were getting meat from legal abattoirs. We will recommend revoking their licences,“ said Ankit Singh, executive engineer, PCB, Meerut.
Owners of meat-processing units in Meerut, however, said the units were being unfairly targeted.
