File status of 16,096 cows ‘exported’ to other states: HC tells Haryana govt

The status of the animals has been written as “not known” or “NA” in the district-wise tabulated data submitted by the government. (Representational Image)

Punjab and Haryana High Court Wednesday asked the Haryana government to verify whether the 16, 096 cows that were exported to other states, since the enactment of the Anti-cow Slaughter Act in 2015, are still alive and provide the list of states where they have been exported.

The HC direction came after the government failed to respond to an order asking it to file a detailed affidavit on the status of the exported cows since the enactment of the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015 — the law which prohibits cow slaughter in the state. Though the government told the Division Bench of Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal and Justice Amit Rawal that 565 permits had been issued since 2015 for the export of cows, it also said “the question of giving particulars of the states where they have been taken and whether they are alive or not does not arise”. The goverment official added that no cow had been exported for the purpose of slaughter since the promulgation of the Act.

“You had to physically verify where the cows have gone . Under the Act, you are required…you have to give which states they have been taken to,” the division bench observed, while directing it to file a fresh affidavit on particulars of the states and the status of the cows. The state government in the affidavit filed by Gaushala Development Officer Dr Rajbir Vats told the High Court that under Section 5 of the Act, no person is allowed to export the cows for the purpose of slaughter and under Section 6 (4) of the Act, no permit for export of cows is issued for a state where cow slaughter is not banned by law.

“As per information gathered from the sub-ordinate field offices of all districts in Haryana, a total number of 565 export permits have been issued for the export of 16,096 cattle from between Nopvember 2015 to September 2017 for agriculture, milch and breeding purposes,” to states where cow slaughter is banned,” it said in the affidavit.

The official response also mentions that 87 per cent of the cows have been only exported from Karnal district for which no permit has been issued.  The status of the animals has been written as “not known” or “NA” in the district-wise tabulated data submitted by the government.