Tuesday 8 September 2015

Meat ban in Mumbai

There is a controversy regarding banning of sale of meat for 8 days in Bhayander during the Jain Paryushan fasting period

In this connection my article posted on my blog some time back may be of some interest

Closing Slaughterhouse on Jain Paryushan festival

I have sometimes been asked which was the most difficult case I found to decide, and my answer usually is: Hinsa Virodhak Sangh vs. Mirzapur Moti Kuresh Jamaat, 2008.

Usually I did not have difficulty in deciding cases, because having spent 40 years in the legal world, 20 years as a lawyer and 20 years as a Judge, I am broadly conversant with legal principles. However, in this case I found it very difficult to make up my mind.

The Senior Judge on the bench, Justice H.K. Sema, had asked me to write the judgment after we had heard arguments and reserved the judgment, but for several weeks I just could not decide what view to take.

The facts of the case were that the Ahmedabad Municipality in Gujarat had for several years passed resolutions for closing down the Municipal slaughterhouse during the 9 days Jain Paryushan festival. Since goats, lamb and other animals could legally be slaughtered only in the Municipal slaughterhouse (for sanitation, hygiene, etc) the result was that for 9 days in a year people of Ahmedabad had to be vegetarians.

The butchers association of Ahmedabad challenged this resolution before the High Court on the ground that it violated their fundamental right of freedom of trade and business guaranteed by Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution. The residents of Ahmedabad pleaded that this resolution compelled them to become vegetarians for 9 days in a year, and this violated their right of privacy which had been held to be part of Article 21 in several decisions of the Supreme Court.

Jains are a community who follow the teachings of Lord Mahavir and other ‘Tirthankaras’. They believe in Ahimsa or non-violence, and are strict vegetarians.

The Paryushan festival is perhaps the most important one for Jains. During the 9 days period of the festival Jains do fasting and other spiritual acts e.g. recitation of their scriptures.

There is a large Jain community in Western India e.g. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Western Madhya Pradesh, Delhi etc. For several years the Ahmedabad Municipality had closed its slaughterhouse during Paryushan, and this was now challenged. The High Court allowed the writ petition, and the matter came up on appeal before us in the Supreme Court.

The petitioners before the High Court (respondents before us) alleged that the impugned resolutions of the Ahmedabad Municipality closing down the Municipal slaughterhouse during Paryushan was an unreasonable restriction on the rights of the butchers of Ahmedabad (the writ petitioners) to carry on trade and business in livestock, mutton etc. It was also a violation of the right of non vegetarians to eat meat. What one eats is part of one’s right to privacy, which by judicial interpretation has been included in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

As mentioned above, for several weeks after reserving judgment in the case I could not make up my mind what view to take. There was certainly a case in support of the contentions of the writ petitioners (the butchers and non-vegetarian section of society), which had been upheld by the High Court. After all, it is one’s personal business what one eats. Why should a non-vegetarian be compelled to become a vegetarian, even if for 9 days? Nobody was compelling the Jains or other vegetarians to become non-vegetarians. Why then should it be vice versa?

This argument at first appealed to my mind. I am a strong votary for freedom, and the impugned resolution seemed to violate the rights of the butchers as well as non-vegetarians.

However, ultimately I decided to uphold the validity of the resolution and reverse the judgment of the High Court.

What persuaded me to do so were these factors:

(1) The restriction was only for a short period of 9 days. Had it been for a longer period, say, for several months, I would certainly have held it to be violative of Articles 19 (1) (g) and 21 of the Constitution.

(2) There is a large Jain community in Western India, including Ahmedabad, and in a country like India with such tremendous diversity of religions, castes, languages, ethnic groups, etc we must respect the feelings of all communities.

(3) The restriction was not a new one, but had been imposed every year for several decades. Reference was made in the judgment to Emperor Akbar and his respect for the Jains.

Taking all these considerations cumulatively we upheld the restriction as being a reasonable one. We referred to the Constitution Bench decision of the Supreme Court in State of Madras vs. V.G. Row, 1952 in which the broad tests for determining reasonableness were indicated. One of the tests laid down therein was whether the restriction was excessive. In the present case we noted that the closure of the slaughterhouse was only for a short duration of 9 days in a year, and hence it was not excessive. We also referred to the decision of the Supreme Court in Government of Andhra Pradesh vs. P. Laxmi Devi, 2008 in which it was held that the court should exercise judicial restraint while judging the constitutional validity of statutes, and the same principle would apply while adjudicating the constitutional validity of delegated legislation.

11 comments:

  1. SAYA PAK,ANTON INGIN BERBAGI CERITA KEPADA KALIAN SEMUA ,dulunya sy seorang guru honor yg hidup susah dan banyak hutan ,krn gaji yg tdk cukup untuk menghidupi ke luarnga sy ,ahirnya sy coba untuk menghubungi AKI MUPENG dan dgn senang hati AKI mau membatu sy untuk memberikan angka hasil ritualnya ,dan angka yg diberikan AKI MUPENG benar-benar terbukti tembus dan saya mengucapkan banyak terimakasih kepada AKI MUPENG yang telah menolong saya dalam kesulitan ini tidak pernah terfikirkan dari benak saya kalau nomor yang saya pasang bisa tembus dan ALHAMDULILLAH kini saya sekeluarga sudah bisa melunasi semua hutang2 kami,sebenarnya saya bukan penggemar togel tapi apa boleh buat kondisi yang tidak memunkinkan dan akhirnya saya minta tolong sama AKI MUPENG dan dengan senang hati AKI MUPENG mau membantu saya..,ALHAMDULILLAH nomor yang dikasi AKI MUPENG semuanya bener2 terbukti tembus dan baru kali ini saya menemukan dukun yang jujur,jangan anda takut untuk menhubungiya jika anda ingin mendapatkan nomor yang betul2 tembus seperti saya,silahkan hubungi AKI MUPENG DI nomor 0852 9445 0976 ,INI KISAH NYATA DARI SY TEMAN” ,terima kasih

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    1. SAYA PAK,ANTON INGIN BERBAGI CERITA KEPADA KALIAN SEMUA ,dulunya sy seorang guru honor yg hidup susah dan banyak hutan ,krn gaji yg tdk cukup untuk menghidupi ke luarnga sy ,ahirnya sy coba untuk menghubungi AKI MUPENG dan dgn senang hati AKI mau membatu sy untuk memberikan angka hasil ritualnya ,dan angka yg diberikan AKI MUPENG benar-benar terbukti tembus dan saya mengucapkan banyak terimakasih kepada AKI MUPENG yang telah menolong saya dalam kesulitan ini tidak pernah terfikirkan dari benak saya kalau nomor yang saya pasang bisa tembus dan ALHAMDULILLAH kini saya sekeluarga sudah bisa melunasi semua hutang2 kami,sebenarnya saya bukan penggemar togel tapi apa boleh buat kondisi yang tidak memunkinkan dan akhirnya saya minta tolong sama AKI MUPENG dan dengan senang hati AKI MUPENG mau membantu saya..,ALHAMDULILLAH nomor yang dikasi AKI MUPENG semuanya bener2 terbukti tembus dan baru kali ini saya menemukan dukun yang jujur,jangan anda takut untuk menhubungiya jika anda ingin mendapatkan nomor yang betul2 tembus seperti saya,silahkan hubungi AKI MUPENG DI nomor 0852 9445 0976 ,INI KISAH NYATA DARI SY TEMAN” ,terima kasih

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    2. Saya ingin menyampaikan kepada seluruh TKI yang bekerja di negeri orang saya ibu hermawati seorang TKI DI MALAYSIA pengen pulang ke indo tapi gak ada ongkos sempat saya putus asah apalagi dengan keadaan susah gaji suami itupun buat makan sedangkan hutang banyak kebetulan suami saya buka-buka internet mendapatkan nomor MBAH RONO katanya bisa bantu orang melunasi hutang melalui jalan TOGEL dengan keadaan susah jadi saya coba hubungi MBAH RONO dan minta angka bocoran MALAYSIA angka yang di berikan 4D TOTO ternyata betul-betul tembus 100% bagi saudarah-saudara di indo mau di luar negeri apabila punya masalah hutang sudah lama belum lunas jangan putus asah beliau bisa membantu meringankan masalah anda hubungi MBAH RONO di nomor (_085_340_489-469_) ini asli bukan rekayasa atau silahkan buktikan sendiri...










      Saya ingin menyampaikan kepada seluruh TKI yang bekerja di negeri orang saya ibu hermawati seorang TKI DI MALAYSIA pengen pulang ke indo tapi gak ada ongkos sempat saya putus asah apalagi dengan keadaan susah gaji suami itupun buat makan sedangkan hutang banyak kebetulan suami saya buka-buka internet mendapatkan nomor MBAH RONO katanya bisa bantu orang melunasi hutang melalui jalan TOGEL dengan keadaan susah jadi saya coba hubungi MBAH RONO dan minta angka bocoran MALAYSIA angka yang di berikan 4D TOTO ternyata betul-betul tembus 100% bagi saudarah-saudara di indo mau di luar negeri apabila punya masalah hutang sudah lama belum lunas jangan putus asah beliau bisa membantu meringankan masalah anda hubungi MBAH RONO di nomor (_085_340_489-469_) ini asli bukan rekayasa atau silahkan buktikan sendiri

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  2. Mr.kadju how you twisted the law shame on you

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  3. saya sekeluarga mengucapkan terima kasih banyak yang sekian kalinya kepada KI SAKTI karna nombor togel MAGNUM 4D yang KI SAKTI berikan 4D yaitu…2119….alhamdulillah ternyata tembus lagi ,saya tak tau harus berbuat apa tuk membalas kebaikan KI SAKTI karna beliau sudah banyak membantu kami sekeluarga dengan angka2 ghoibnya dan telah merubah kehidupan saya jauh lebih layak dari pada sebelumnya,berkat KI SAKTI kami sudah punya rumah sendiri dan juga punya usaha sendiri , dan sudah punya tabungan di BANK sudah begitu banyak. Peramal lain yang saya mintai angka jitu tak ada satupun yang tembus malahan saya terlilit hutang yang lumayan cukup banyak,dan Akhirnya saya mendapatkan peramal togel yang asli saya akui kalau KI SAKTI memang peramal jitu dan pantas di ajungkan jempol,jika anda ingin merubah nasib anda dengan angka ghoib yang di jamin 100% jebol,hubungi KI SAKTI di nombor : 082_338_188_733 ,angka yang di berikan KI SAKTI jangan di ragukan lagi soalnya saya sudah membuktikannya sendiri,angka ghoib yang KI SAKTI berikan mulai dari 2d,3d,4d,sio semuanya tembus 100% , sudah 5 kali putaran saya menang Dan tak pernah meleset , dan hanya KI SAKTI yang bisa menjamin 100% kemenangan,sekarang giliran anda membuktikannya sendiri,
    BUTUH ANGKA GHOIB HASIL RTUAL KI SAKTI
    angka;GHOIB: singapura
    angka;GHOIB: hongkong
    angka;GHOIB; malaysia
    angka;GHOIB; toto magnum
    angka”GHOIB; laos…
    angka”GHOIB; macau
    angka”GHOIB; sidney
    angka”GHOIB: vietnam
    angka”GHOIB: dubai
    angka"GHOIB thailand

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  4. political alignment seems to have influenced your order, I can't think of any rational reason ! Such an order is obviously violative of constitution and rights guaranteed to every citizen atleast on paper. SC has failed the test many time and its one more example as such. I can be disappointed but that's no solace esp. since one of the author of this order was Justice katju - who seemingly seems to espouse the thoughts contrary to order he passed while in SC - perhaps such is power and self interest ! I am convinced that till self interest is going to govern public interest in this country - there is no hope at all! Just to reiterate - very disappointed with Justice Katju - Hathi ke daanth khane ke alag aur dikhane ke alag !

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  5. The question is more of emotional in nature and the emotions also lie deep in the judges. They are not supposed to remain totally untouched with the sentiments of a major section of society in a democratic set up, if no heinous crime or sedition is involved in the case.

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    1. hmm - if constitutional rights are down to emotions, no point having constitution ! Just have political parties appointees managing SC judges positions like what we see at FTII - lets drop this facade of country rules by rule of law !

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  6. Mr Katju should perhaps join RSS - and he can can sing sanghi songs as much he can and there is no need of any pretence as in his own words - the country has already gone to dogs !

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  7. Respect the judgement and your views too.

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  8. One story I can remember wherein one libertine young man who used to move and rotate his stick on the busy roads. And most of the times the stick used t hit the pedestrains. One fine day the young man intentionally hit the nose of on old man.

    When asked by the old man, that libertine young man replied that this is my right and I have the liberty to move and rotate my stick anywhere.

    In response to that the old man replied that if moving and rotating the stick is your right and liberty. Then its your duty and responsbility that no one gets hurt because of your liberty and right. Becasue your liberty and right is violating my liberty and right. I do have the freedom/liberty to safeguard my interests and body. And now I may hit you with anything to save myself.

    In the same way, if somebody is vegetarian, no one can force him to become a non- vegetarian.

    But here, the situation is this that the young man wants to hit the old man with his stick with his closed eyes. In India we do have so many religions,casts and diffrent people and every individual has to take care and respoct the trust, privacy,assumption,religion of others.

    Banning meat by the Govet. or the Courts for 8 or 10 days is relavent in view of Indian geography. Multy culture,multi religion and diversity is the feature of India. We should not be ordered to respect the feelings, assumptions and religions of others. But this quality should be within ourselves. In fact, the Apex court should have ordered the Govt. of India and all the state Govets. to develope the quality to respect others, thers feelings,religions, assumptions. The people should be trained to become patient and take things with good sense. Court should not interfare on each and every social issue and as per me social issues should be solved socially. And during the course of solving the social issue if someone does wrong then he should be punished by the court.

    I know I am expecting too much form my oun brothers and sisters. But, I always hope for the best.

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