Allahabad: Cow, which is part of India’s culture, should be given fundamental rights and declared national animal, the Allahabad High Court observed on September 1 while denying bail to a person charged under the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act.
“Only if cow is revered, country will prosper,” the bail order said in Hindi.
“The work of cow protection is not only of one religious sect, but cow is the culture of India and the work of saving the culture is of every citizen living in the country irrespective of religion,” the court said.
A single-judge bench of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav said that the government should bring a bill in Parliament to give fundamental rights to cow and to declare cow as the national animal and strict laws should be made to punish those who talk about harming cow.”
The bail plea was moved by one Javed who was charged under Sections 3, 5 and 8 of the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act. While denying bail to the applicant, the court remarked that India is the only country in the world where people of different religions live, who may worship differently but their thinking is the same for the country.
“In such a situation, when everyone takes a step forward to unite India and support its faith, then some people whose faith and belief are not at all in the interest of the country, they only weaken the country by talking like this in the country. In view of the above circumstances, prima facie offence is proved to be committed against the applicant,” the court said.
The court proceeded to deny bail to Javed stating that if bail is granted, then it might ‘disturb’ the harmony of the society at large. The court said that this is not the first offence of the applicant, even before this, he has committed cow slaughter, which has disturbed the harmony of the society and if released on bail, he will again do the same work which will spoil the environment of the society.
The court also took a view of how gaushalas across the state are functioning and said that it is very sad to see that those who talk about cow protection and promotion become cow-eaters.
https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/cow-fundamental-rights-national-animal-allahabad-hc-1848151-2021-09-01