Bombay High Court asks BMC to reconsider nine-day closure of slaughterhouses during Jain festival
The High Court asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to decide to close the slaughterhouses for a day instead of all nine days. 'Mumbai holds a diverse population, banning slaughterhouses for nine days during Parv Paryushan means allowing other communities to come to court seeking a similar ban during Ganesh Chaturthi or Navratri,' it said.
'Under what statutory obligation can the civic bodies prohibit for nine days?' asked Chief Justice Alok Aradhe.
During the hearing on a petition filed by a Jain community trust, a Division Bench led by the Chief Justice and Justice Sandeep Marne asked the trust to resubmit its representation to municipal corporations of Mumbai, Pune, and Nashik and directed the civic bodies to decide on the temporary ban latest by August 18.
The petition seeking a ban on slaughter for the nine-day period, starting August 21, was filed after the Jain community trust challenged the BMC, Nashik and Pune municipal corporations' 2024 decision to observe a one-day ban during Parv Paryushan last year.
The Bench noted that Maharashtra already has 15 days in a year, where slaughter is prohibited. Besides, the exact percentages of vegetarian and non-vegetarian populations are unknown. Many other municipal corporations rely on the Mumbai's Deonar slaughterhouse. Given the scenario, the court wondered whether it could intervene in a policy decision.
The trust argued principle of Ahimsa (non-violence) is a crucial part of their festival, and allowing the slaughter will be detrimental to the tenets of Jainism. Representing the trust, senior counsel Darius Khambata said, 'The BMC justified a one-day ban on slaughter, citing Mumbai's diverse population, but Nashik and Pune civic bodies did not give any reason for their decision. So they must provide the reason. Besides, the BMC failed to consider that the demographic as Jain population in Maharashtra (1.24%) is higher than in Gujarat (0.95%).'
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