The Central Government has made the following rules- The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulations of Livestock Market) Rule, 2017 in the exercise of the power conferred under section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
1. Cattle as defined under the Rules: A bovine animal including bulls, bullocks, cows, buffalos, steers, heifers and calves (less than 6 months) and includes camels.
2. District Animal Market Monitoring Committee: The functional animal market will be required to make an application for registration of the animal market and the Committee would be required to make a list of all such functional markets. The local authority has been vested with the power to establish new animal market within its jurisdiction if necessary.
3. Cruel and Harmful practices prohibited on Animals
4. Prohibition and Protection of animals from Unnecessary Pain and Suffering
5. Mode of Handling Animals in the Animal Market
6. Guidelines for Penning and Caging of Animals
7. Restrictions Imposed on Sale of Animals: It is this clause which made news around in various newspapers.
8. Types of Marking by Veterinary Inspector
9. Latest Updates from Courts on Notification
May 31, 2017: Disposing of a PIL filed against the Centre’s move to ban the sale and purchase of animals for slaughter at cattle markets, the Kerala High Court observed that the new regulation doesn’t impose a complete ban on cattle slaughter. A division bench of the high court, hearing a PIL filed by the Youth Congress secretary, said there was no breach of citizen’s rights.
Objecting Centre’s decision, the Madras High Court on Tuesday granted a four-week stay on the ban of the sale of cattle meant for slaughter. The interim order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice M V Muralidharan and Justice CV Karthikeyan in response to a PIL filed at the high court.
Rajasthan High Court demanded that cow should be made the national animal. This recommendation was made during the hearing over the Hingonia Gaushala matter and the Court added that punishment for cow slaughter should be escalated to life imprisonment. Judge Mahesh Chandra Sharma also instructed the forest department to plant 5,000 plants in the cowshed every year.
January 8, 2017Supreme Court rejected PIL on a complete ban on cow slaughter.The Chief Justice of India held that the SC has already passed comprehensive directions to the Centre and states in July 2016 to frame rules to stop illegal interstate and cross-border transportation of cattle. Committees have been put in place by states to prevent illegal cattle transportation.
November 6, 2016: The Delhi high court dismissed a PIL seeking enactment of a law prohibiting the slaughter of cows and sale of beef and such products across the national capital region, terming it as “misconceived”.
REFERENCES
1. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Notification dated May 23, 2017 GSR 34 (E).
