Cows are worshipped; that is why we said God will not forgive us if cattle are killed: Gujarat High Court

Cows are worshipped in India and that is why it had earlier remarked that God will never forgive us if they are killed and left to rot, the Gujarat High Court observed on Friday [Mustak Hussain Mehndi Hussain Kadri vs Jagdeep Narayan Singh, IPS].

The Court made the remark while hearing case concerning stray cattle menace.

When the matter was considered earlier this month, the division bench of Justices Ashutosh Shastri and Hemant Prachchhak had taken strong objection to the fact that carcasses of cattle were found rotten in open land parcels in the Nadia region of Kheda district. 

The bench, at the time, had orally commented that "even God will not forgive us" for such acts and the animals must not be sacrificed only for "public comfort" or by citing policies to curb the stray cattle menace.

During today's hearing the counsel appearing for some cattle owners accused the authorities of forcibly taking away cattle, even though they were not roaming on the streets. He further tried to highlight the poor conditions of cattle pounds where the impounded cattle were being kept by the authorities. 

"The conditions there (in the pounds) are really bad. They are overcrowded. Animals are being kept in cruel atmosphere there," the counsel submitted. 

However, the contentions were denied by the authorities.

"We worship each cow before taking them in (the pound). The allegations of pounds being overcrowded etc are not correct," the government's counsel submitted. 

"Yes, cows are worshipped and thus we made the observations in the previous hearing," Justice Shastri said in response.

The Court has been hearing a batch of petitions seeking contempt of court action against the State government and its officials for failing to curb the stray cattle menace across Gujarat after it was reported that several persons lost their lives to cattle attacks. The plea also highlighted the failure to regulate traffic laws in the State. 

Last month, the Court had ordered the Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad to ensure that adequate police protection is provided to municipal officers who implement court orders to tackle the stray cattle menace.

During an earlier hearing, the Court had pulled up the State government for dragging its feet on coming up with a comprehensive policy to tackle the issue. The bench had observed,

"When will the State understand that security and safety of the citizens is supreme? Why aren't you taking it seriously? Where is the accountability of the officers? We want you to fix the accountability of a particular officer in every area, who will ensure cattle aren't roaming on the road. But you have not done anything. Are you waiting for someone to die?"

During the previous hearing, the Court had commented that innocent animals cannot be killed and left to rot citing the 'cattle stray menace.'

"This is very shocking. One cannot do this in the name of compliance. It is a very disturbing incident. Under the guise of implementing the policy, innocent animals cannot be sacrificed. For the purpose of human life, we cannot allow this. If this is happening, even God will not save us or forgive us. This needs to be taken care of...Not a single animal must be sacrificed for the purpose of public comfort. We will not allow this," the bench had observed at the time.  

Having heard the concerns raised regarding cattle pounds, the Court today granted liberty to the cattle owners' counsel to personally visit the pounds and inspect the same. 

The Court today also heard the submissions of Advocate General Kamal Trivedi with regard to State policies on the proper implementation of traffic rules.  

AG Trivedi told the bench that a number of measures have been taken to tackle illegal parking, wrong side driving, helmet-less motorists, etc. 

"We have also identified five spots (in Ahmedabad) which are prone to accidents. We have increased vigil there and this will help ensure no fatal accidents take place there," Trivedi said.  

Considering the submissions and also the affidavit placed on record, the Court opined that the government has taken some progressive steps to tackle traffic issues. 

"But now everything depends on the citizens and their civic sense. It is for them now to abide by the rules and co-operate with the authorities in implementing the norms," Justice Shastri observed.  

The Court proceeded to ask the authorities to strictly implement the measures in place till January 5 and file a report.  

"Let there be a strict vigil for next 15 days or so. We will then again consider this matter," the bench said while posting the matter for hearing on January 5.