Bombay High Court asks BMC to reconsider limiting slaughterhouses' closure to a day during Paryushan Parv
A division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V Marne was hearing Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by Sheth Motishaw Lalbaug Jain Charities and Sheth Bherulalji Kanaiyalalji Kothari Religious Trust. They challenged the August 30, 2024, order of the BMC commissioner, which directed slaughterhouses to remain closed for a day during Paryushan Parv instead of all nine days.
The court directed BMC to reconsider its decision after examining representation by the petitioners belonging to the Jain community by August 18, before the commencement of Paryushan Parv on August 20.
The court said the Nashik and Pune Municipal Corporations were required to take a reasoned decision on the closure of slaughterhouses during Paryushan Parv. The petitioner claimed that the two civic bodies did not give any reasons for refusing to ban the slaughter of animals during the entire period of the festival.
Representing the petitioners, Senior Advocate Darius Khambata and Advocate Abhinav Chandrachud relied on the Supreme Court judgement of March 2008 in Hinsa Virodhak Sangh vs Mirzapur Moti Kuresh Jamat, which noted that the state and every citizen must have compassion for living creatures.
Khambata argued that the SC had found the closure of slaughterhouses for nine days to be a reasonable restriction, and could not be said to be violative of the fundamental rights of persons engaged in the slaughtering of animals. The petitioners claimed BMC misinterpreted the SC decision, and failed to consider that the population of Jains in Maharashtra was greater than that of Gujarat, which was not the case.
The lawyers submitted that the Jain community constitutes 1.24 per cent of Maharashtra's population, while they represent 0.95 per cent of Gujarat's population. Chandrachud said that as per the 2011 Census, there were over 14 lakh Jains in Maharashtra, compared to over 5.7 lakh Jains in Gujarat. He also submitted that Mumbai has 5.38 per cent of Jain population compared to 3.64 per cent in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, therefore, the impugned decision was arbitrary.
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