The Tamil Nadu government has taken its case to the Supreme Court, contesting the Madras High Court’s ruling to immediately enforce a statewide prohibition on cow slaughter based on a 1976 Government Order. The special leave petition filed by the Animal Husbandry Department Secretary is awaiting a hearing as it remains on the apex court’s defect list.
In response to the High Court’s May 27 directive, which mandated the prevention of cow and calf slaughter in the state during Bakrid and beyond, Tamil Nadu argues that these instructions exceed the existing legal framework for animal slaughter in the region. The state points out that while the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act of 1958 regulates cattle slaughter under specific conditions, it does not impose an outright ban.
The government of Tamil Nadu has cited various laws, including the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules of 2001, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act of 1998, and the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules of 2023 to support its stance. The original plea sought to confine slaughter activities to designated slaughterhouses, but the High Court expanded this to a complete prohibition on cow and calf slaughter throughout Tamil Nadu.
The Madras High Court’s ruling, issued by Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan during a vacation session, was in response to a PIL filed by K. Surya Prasanth, the youth wing secretary of the Indu Makkal Katchi. The court order stemmed from allegations of cow slaughter preparations in public spaces in Coimbatore during Bakrid.
