Maha ban on killing bulls upheld, HC says beef possession not crime

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday upheld the Maharashtra governments law to ban slaughter of bulls and bullocks, but held as "unconstitutional" the ban on eating and possession of beef that is from an animal slaughtered outside the state.A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Suresh Gupta struck down the provision that made it a crime to possess beef even if it was slaughtered outside Maharashtra. The High Court agreed with petitioners, a group which included a coalition of citizens of Mumbai from every community, that this was a violation of the "right to privacy" that was part of the fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution."The State cannot make an intrusion into his home and prevent a citizen from possessing and eating food of his choice." said the judges, adding, "If the State tells the citizens not to eat a particular type of food or prevents the citizens from possessing and consuming a particular type of food, it will certainly be an infringement of a right to privacy as it violates the right to be let alone."The court further outlined that, "If a particular food is injurious to health or a particular food is illegally manufactured, it will be a case of compelling public interest which will enable the State to deprive citizens of the right to privacy by following the procedure established by law. In the present case, Section 5D prevents a citizen from possessing and from consuming flesh of a cow, bull or bullock even if it is flesh of a cow, bull or bullock slaughtered in territories where such slaughter is legal. Hence, Section 5D is certainly an infringement of right to privacy which is implicit in the personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21."The court has also read down the provision of the new law that made it a crime to be in possession of beef that was slaughtered in the state.The High Court held that the principle of "conscious possession" will operate - which means that the police would have to prove that the person had knowledge that the meat in his possession was beef of an animal slaughtered in Maharashtra. The High Court rejected a plea by the State to stay that part of the judgment that decriminalised the possession of beef.The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act was enacted in March 2015 and bans the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, in addition to an earlier ban on the slaughter of cows. The law makes the sale of of bulls and bullocks for slaughter a crime punishable with a jail term of up to five years and a fine of Rs 10,000. Section 5C makes it a crime to be in possession of beef that has been slaughtered in Maharashtra.Section 5D says that possession of meat of a cow, bull or bullock, even if slaughtered outside the state, is also an offence which can be punished with one-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000. Many of the petitions have focused their challenge on section 5D, that makes possession a crime.The court has also struck down the provision that specified "presumption of guilt" on the part of an accused - the law said that if a person sell or transports cows, bulls or bullocks, it would be presumed that it was meant for the purpose of slaughter and he could be prosecuted. This is now no longer available to the state.