The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition seeking its direction to ban cow vigilante groups for allegedly “creating disharmony among various communities and castes” and indulging in mob violence.
A bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy have sent notices to Centre and Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana for allegedly ‘giving protection’ to such vigilante groups and has sought their reply on the matter. The petition is a filed by Tehseen Poonawalla, a Congress member and he has alleged that “gau rakshak dals” are spreading violence and committing atrocities against Dalits and members of the minority communities and pleaded the court to direct the Centre and states to take action against them.
He pleaded to the SC to declare as “unconstitutional” section 12 of the Gujarat Animal Prevention Act, 1954, Section 13 of Maharashtra Animal Prevention Act, 1976, and Section 15 of Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964, which provide for protection of persons acting in good faith under the Act or rules.
