AMN
The Bombay High Court today upheld the Maharashtra government’s law to ban slaughter of bulls and bullocks, but held as unconstitutional the ban on possession of beef.
One can possess beef brought from outside the state of Maharashtra, the court said. A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Suresh Gupte, rejected a plea by the State to stay the part of the judgment that decriminalised the possession of beef.
The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act was enacted in March 2015 and banned the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, in addition to an earlier ban on the slaughter of cows. In February last year, Maharashtra government enforced a beef ban after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act (MAPA Act).