"An eight-day straight ban can't be a formula. Mumbai is a modern city," observed the Bombay High Court. Tomorrow it will hear the plea of mutton traders who say that the meat ban discriminates against their right to a livelihood.

The ban on slaughter and sale of meat in Mumbai has been imposed in view of Paryushan, a Jain festival of forgiveness. Meat shops were open in Mumbai today, but the main government-run abattoir in the city's Deonar was closed.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC has prohibited the slaughter and sale of meat and chicken in Mumbai on four days - today, Sunday, September 17 and 20.

The BJP, which counts the Jain community here among its loyal supporters, wants the number of days of the meat ban to be extended to eight. Jains are strict vegetarians.

The Shiv Sena says a two-day meat ban, if at all, is adequate. "All demands have to be reasonable; asking for an eight-day ban is stupidity," said the party's Sanjay Raut. "Jains should not become fanatical, it will not be good for you," he also said.

The Sena says it will ensure meat is openly sold and eaten on the days of the ban in these days. Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Narvnirman Sena said its workers would sell meat to defy the ban.

In Mira-Bhayander, a town on the outskirts of Mumbai with a sizeable Jain population, the BJP is fighting to ensure that the eight-day ban it wants is not trimmed to two days.

The meat ban during the Jain fast was introduced in 1994 by the then Congress government. Ten years later, the two-day ban was extended to four days, but has never really been implemented, officials say.

Like Opposition parties the Congress and the NCP, the Shiv Sena has alleged a political move by the BJP to appease the Jain community in Mumbai, with an eye on elections to the civic body in 2017.