An act of slaughtering a cow in the secrecy of one’s own house in the early hours — probably because of poverty, lack of employment or hunger — may be described as a case involving law and order but not a matter affecting public order, the Allahabad High Court has noted.
"...an act of slaughtering a cow in the secrecy of one’s own house , would perhaps only involve a law and order issue and could not be said to stand on the same footing as a situation where a number of cattle have been slaughtered outside in public view and the public transport of their flesh or an incident where aggressive attack is made by the slaughterers against the complaining public, which may involve infractions of public order,” the court said.
The court made the observation while quashing a detention order dated August 14, 2020 under the National Security Act against three men in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh.
A Division Bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Saroj Yadav ordered the forthwith release of the accused unless they were wanted in connection with some other criminal case.
An FIR was lodged under Sections 3, 5, 8 of the U.P. Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955 and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013 against five accused persons Parvez, Irfan, Rahamtullah (petitioners), Rafi and Kurban at Talgaon police station in Sitapur. Detainees Parvez and Irfan were arrested on the same day of the incident July 12, 2020, while Rahmatullah was attested a day later. Another FIR under the U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 was later lodged against the accused.
Without protest
While raiding Rahmatullah’s house in a village on information that beef was brought there by two butchers after allegedly slaughtering a cow, police alleged that they found that five persons were cutting the lump of the beef in small pieces As soon as the police party entered the house, all five persons tried to flee but were identified after two were caught on the spot.
The recovered beef was reportedly sent to a veterinary doctor in Parsendi who reported that the meat was beef.
The HC said it would be relevant to mention that the accused were mutely arrested when they were found cutting beef in the wee hours of the morning in the house belonging to one of them.
It is a matter of quality and degree whether the act has been done in public gaze and in an aggressive manner with scant regard to the sentiments of the other community or whether it has been done in a concealed manner, which can resolve the question whether the case is one involving public order, or is only a matter affecting law and order, the court noted in an order dated August 5.
“It was a solitary incident of cutting cow beef in pieces away from the public eye. There was no resistance when the petitioners/ detenues Parvez and Irfan and the other co-accused were being arrested by the police at that time,” the court said.
