K’taka to table bill to ban cow slaughter on lines of UP

Bengaluru, Dec 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) Karnataka Haj, Waqf and Animal Husbandry Minister, Prabhu Chauhan, said on Monday that a Bill to ban cow slaughter on the lines of Uttar Pradesh will be placed in the current legislative session.

Speaking to reporters in the Assembly lounge here, Chauhan said that the majority of the people in the country worship cow and everyone must respect their feelings.

"Therefore, we need to have a strong Act to ban cow slaughter in the state. I think Uttar Pradesh has one of the best cow slaughter ban acts in the country and we feel that it would be appropriate to formulate our Act on the model of Uttar Pradesh, which was envisaged by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adithyanath," he said.

The minister added that as and when the law is enacted, along with prohibition on slaughter, sale and use of beef and illegal transportation of animals for slaughtering will also be stopped.

Last week, Chauhan was on a tour of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh to study the cow slaughter ban act. He also met Adityanath to seek his guidance for formulating the "most stringent" anti-cow slaughter legislation. He also gathered information regarding the management of 'gaushalas' (cow shelters).

Uttar Pradesh has one of the most stringent anti-cow slaughter laws in place. According to this law, a person can get a maximum rigorous imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh for violation of the law.

"For the first offence, a person can be given a rigorous punishment of one to seven years with a fine ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. For the second offence, the person can be given 10-year rigorous imprisonment with a fine up to Rs 5 lakh," the law states.

Ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP had promised in its manifesto to prohibit cow slaughter. The same was reiterated in the recently held state executive meetings in Mangaluru and Belagavi.

In 2010, the BJP government led by B.S. Yediyurappa had got the controversial Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill passed.

It proposed to replace the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964.

Then the Bill widened the definition of "cattle" and imposed a blanket ban on cattle slaughter, coupled with stringent penalty clauses for violation.

However, the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah that came to power in 2013 withdrew the Bill that was before the President for his assent.

After the BJP came back to power in the state, several party leaders have been making a pitch to re-enact the anti-cow slaughter law.

Source: IANS