Cattle sale ban: Kerala High court declines to interfere

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a PIL seeking quashing of the Centre's notification banning the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter, observing that there was no constitutional violation in the rules.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh observed that the May 23 notification issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests did not stipulate any ban on cattle slaughter. It dismissed as withdrawn a plea against the curbs, filed by Youth Congress leader T G Sunil.

It pointed out



that the ban applied only to the sale of cattle for slaughter through livestock markets and there was no blanket ban on the sale or slaughter of cattle. A proper reading of the notification would have avoided the row over its content, the bench observed. 

State to move court

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, however, said the CPM-led state government would move court to challenge the Centre's restrictions on the sale of cattle for slaughter. A special Cabinet meeting would be held on Thursday to chalk out strategies on the issue.