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Updated July 17th, 2021 at 17:28 IST

Uttarakhand High Court questions ban on slaughterhouses in Haridwar district

The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday, July 16, questioned the constitutionality of a ban on slaughterhouses in the Haridwar district after a PIL was filed.

Reported by: Kriti Nayyar
Uttarakhand HC on slaughterhouse ban
Credits- PTI/REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE | Image:self
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The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday, July 16, questioned the constitutionality of a ban on slaughterhouses in the Haridwar district and stated that civilisation is judged by the way it treats its minorities. This comes after Uttarakhand Government's decision to issue a blanket ban on all slaughterhouses in Haridwar, declaring all municipal zones in the district as 'slaughterhouse-free' zones. On July 13, a PIL was filed by a group of petitioners challenging the order. 

Hearing the petition filed by residents of Manglaur challenging the ban, a division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice R S Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma stated, "Democracy means the protection of minorities. A civilisation is judged only by the way it treats its minorities and a ban like Haridwar's questions the extent to which the state can determine a citizen's options." It further stated that democracy is not merely 'the rule of the majority' but also the way in which the rights of the minorities are safeguarded. 

Petition claims denying food amounts to 'hostile discrimination' 

The petition said the prohibition goes against the basic rights, namely, the right to privacy, the right to life and the right to freely practice religion. It further mentioned that the order is discriminatory in nature especially for Muslims in Haridwar where towns like Manglaur have a substantial Muslim population. "Denying hygienic and fresh non-vegetarian food to people of Haridwar district across the limitations of religion and caste amounts to hostile discrimination," the petition said. 

In March this year, the state had declared all areas of Haridwar “free from slaughterhouses” and cancelled the NOCs (No Objection Certificate) issued to slaughterhouses. Stating that the decision was "arbitrary and unconstitutional", it gave two major reasonings. A blanket ban on meat of any kind is unconstitutional, as is Section 237A that the Uttarakhand government had inserted into the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act, to give itself the power to declare an area under a municipal corporation, council or Nagar panchayat as a slaughterhouse free zones. 

The court further stated that a constitutional interpretation of the petition is required as it has raised serious fundamental questions. The supreme court, on earlier issues of similar nature in the past, stated that "meat ban cannot be forced down the throat of anyone. Tomorrow, you will say nobody should eat meat," the HC said. The High Court further observed, "The question is whether a citizen has the right to decide his own diet or whether that will be decided by the state.” 

Towards the end, the court stated that since this is a constitutional issue not restricted by festivals, that it needed proper hearing and deliberations and upon a later date for another hearing. It mentioned that since the case cannot be concluded in time for Bakrid which falls on July 21, the next hearing of the petition will be held on July 23.

(With PTI Inputs)

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Published July 17th, 2021 at 17:28 IST

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