Bull, bullocks less than 16 years not to be slaughtered: HC

Mumbai, Dec 18 (UNI) The Bombay High Court has defined the age for slaughter of bulls and bullocks as 16 years.

A Division bench comprising Justices Dr R S Radhakrishnan and Vijaya K Tahilramani last week held that whether the state's bill seeking total ban on slaughter of calves, bulls and bullocks was affirmed by the President or not, the interim relief of age bar holds that cattle not to be slaughtered before the specified age.

The petition filed by Viniyog Parivar Trust trustee R K Joshi sought an age-based restriction for slaughter of animals like bulls, bullock and calf under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976.

Mr Joshi told UNI that when the petition was filed, the general administration defined calf as upto one year old. Also, under the Act, bull or bullock was defined as that over the age of three. The gap between the defination of calf and bull or bullock led to slaughter of lakhs of calves falling in the gap for their leather skin. Hence the petition was filed.

Moreover, the discretion to decide whether a bull or bullock would be useful or not, permitting the slaughtered or not, rested with the veterinarian officer, who would pass the mandatory certificates for all animals that came in for slaughter as there was no specified criteria, Mr Joshi said.

The petition, therefore, sought an age bar on the animals to be slaughtered, which was finally granted by the court last week. ''The age bar resloved both the issues at once as neither calves could be slaughtered nor the veternary officer could sanction slaughter certificate without the age criteria,'' said Mr Joshi.

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