Will not allow sacrifice of animals to protect human life from stray cattle menace: Gujarat High Court

Expressing shock over carcasses of cattle found in various places in Kheda district's Nadiad area, the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday said it will not allow sacrifice of innocent animals to protect human life from the stray cattle menace [Mustak Hussain Mehndi Hussain Kadri v. Jagdeep Narayan Singh, IPS]..A Bench of Justices Ashutosh Shastri and Hemant Prachchhak observed,"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 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. .On Tuesday, advocate Amit Panchal brought to the notice of the judges, photographs showing carcasses of nearly 30 cattle found in open parcels of land in various places in Nadiad. The advocate filed an affidavit on behalf of a local social worker who stated that the Nadiad Nagarpalika had seized around 110 cattle under the policy of the State. However, now only 80 to 90 cows are left with the authorities, it was claimed..Terming the issue "important and grave," the Court ordered the Collector of Kheda to look into the matter and file a report. It also asked Advocate General Kamal Trivedi to submit details of cattle pounds across the State, their capacity and how many cattle are kept there as on date. The Bench also sought details on the conditions of these pounds and animals kept there..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 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?".On Wednesday, when the matter was called out, Government Pleader Manisha Luvkumar-Shah told the bench that the carcasses are prima facie very old. "Our preliminary investigation is going on. Our officers have examined the carcasses and have given a prima facie opinion that they are very very old. We have however, sent the same for forensic tests and a report is awaited," Shah said.She, therefore, sought time and the bench accordingly adjourned the hearing till December 19.