- The court asks the petitioner NGOs Animal Welfare Foundation and Ahinsa Maha Sangh if poultry birds should be considered as “animals” and need to be sent to a slaughter house before being brought to a meat shop.
- Even fish should be taken to a slaughter house, as they are also brought fresh in the shop: Chief Justice Aravind Kumar
NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JAN 3
Acting on a petition seeking the ban on slaughter of poultry birds in meat shops, the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the state government on a PIL seeking a ban on supply of poultry birds to meat shops, as they are being slaughtered in these establishments instead of being sent to a slaughter house.
It is too farfetched to say that chicken should not be slaughtered in a mutton shop, the court said, and also asked whether a poultry bird can be considered as an animal.
A division bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri issued notices to the respondents – state government, animal husbandry director, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and commissioner of municipalities administration – and posted the matter for hearing in due course.
The court asked the petitioner NGOs Animal Welfare Foundation and Ahinsa Maha Sangh if poultry birds should be considered as “animals” and need to be sent to a slaughter house before being brought to a meat shop.
“Birds need not be sent to the slaughter house…Can a hen be considered as an animal? In the matter of chicken, how do you distinguish what is good chicken and what is bad chicken?” the HC asked.
The petitioner’s lawyer Nisarg Mehta cited Rule 3 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, which says “animals” should not be slaughtered except in a licensed slaughter house.
When the court asked “can a hen be considered an animal”, the lawyer highlighted section 2 (a) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which defines the word animal as “any living creature other than a human being.” He also cited provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which states that no live animals shall be permitted within the premises of a meat shop.
Chief Justice Kumar said by that standard, even fish should be taken to a slaughter house, as they are also brought fresh in the shop.
“It is too farfetched to say that chicken should not be slaughtered in the mutton shop,” the court observed, while issuing notices to the respondents.
The petitioners’ lawyer argued that the question arises as to whether a chicken should be slaughtered in an inhuman manner when there are provisions which say that the animal has to be stunned before killing.
“They are being killed in a live state just in front of other animals. In fact, there are provisions under the regulation of the Food Safety and Standard Act, which says no live animals shall be permitted even within the premises of the meat shop…,” he said.
“In such a case, how can the animal be killed in the shop itself?” he asked.
