The Supreme Court today (17 September) declined to interfere with the order of the Bombay High Court which had stayed the order of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai prohibiting the sale of meat during the Jain festival of Paryurshan. The SC bench Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Kurian Joseph, while refusing to entertain the plea by a trust, said that there should be a spirit of “tolerance and accommodation”.
The court allowed the petitioner Shree Tapagachiya Atma Kamal Labhdisuriswarji Gyanmandir Trust (which is a religious trust) to go to the high court to raise all the contentions and plea for an early hearing.
The trust has challenged September 14, 2015, interim order of Bombay High Court.
It may be pointed out that on Monday (14 September 2015), a division bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising of Justice A.V. Mohta and Justice Amjad Sayyed, had granted a stay on the ban on sale of meat here on September 17, while hearing a PIL filed by Bombay Mutton Dealers’ Association challenging the ban imposed in the wake of Jain community’s “Paryushan” festival.
During the hearing today in the Supreme Court, the court objected over the manner in which the ban was being enforced observing that it can’t be forced down people’s throats and that the authority should be tolerant towards people opposing the ban.
The petitioner trust contended that non-violence is recognised in our constitution and it includes towards treatment to animals, and also that animals should also be treated compassionately. The court agreed on the issue of compassion towards animals, but asked why such compassion should be there only during festival and not all the time, observing at the same time that any ban on sale of meat can’t be forced on people. The court also pointed out that the spirit of tolerance has to be inculcated in society through reform in a subtle way.
See also: Bombay High Court lifts September 17 ban on meat sale in Mumbai.
