Ashwin Shuklapaksha Navami, Kaliyug Varsha 5116
Mumbai : Eleven persons belonging to the Muslim community in the city have approached the Bombay high court seeking orders to allow sacrifice of animals at housing societies or other places during Bakri Eid in south Mumbai and the suburbs. A division bench of Justice Anoop Mohta and Justice F M Reis has scheduled the matter for hearing on Wednesday after assistant government pleader Bharat Mehta sought time to file the state’s response.
The petition claimed that the Deonar abattoir, which was set up in 1972, is woefully inadequate to meet the requirements for the three-day festival, which sees slaughter of goats and buffaloes as part of the religious customs. “When the abattoir came up, the Muslim population of the city was around 10 lakh but this had risen to around 40 lakh now,” it said.
As per government rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, animals can only be slaughtered at Deonar. Muslims in south Mumbai and those in the suburbs have to travel to Deonar for the sacrifice, which is inconvenient and causes difficulties. Further, the facilities at Deonar are inadequate and unhygienic and animals are slaughtered in inhuman conditions in violation of rules. The norms also specify that a veterinary doctor can examine only 96 animals in a day before the slaughter, which means the 20 doctors at the abattoir will be able to inspect only 2,000 animals. However, 15,000-18,000 animals are sacrificed during the three-day festival, the petition claims.
The petitioners said they have identified 20 places in the city that have a large Muslim population and where animals can be sacrificed between October 5 and 7, without hurting the sentiments of other communities. They have urged the court to order the state to make arrangements for additional temporary slaughterhouses or allow the Muslim community to perform the traditional sacrifice rituals on society premises or other places available to them.
Meanwhile, another bench of the HC on Monday granted an interim stay on a decision by the Maharashtra government to allow the slaughter of an additional 12,000 animals during the festival this year. Advocate Prafulla Shah, advocate for the petitioner Vinod Kothari, said that the state had not sought permission of the pollution control board before allowing it.
Source : The Times of India
