Beef Ban: Lawmakers Can Amend, Repeal Section 298, Says PIL Counsel

KL NEWS NETWORK

SRINAGAR

Sub-judice nature of the case is unlikely to be an issue if the lawmakers in J&K intend to amend the RPC related to bovine slaughter.

“A division bench has directed that the petition will not come in between if the legislators in the state assembly will amend or repeal the section,” lawyer Faisal Qadri, who is pleading the PIL filed by Syed Afzal Qadri.

Qadri has filed a petition insisting that the section 298 is a violation of fundamental rights and wants it be repealed from the Ranbir Penal Code, J&K’s criminal procedure code. A division bench comprising Justices Mr M Yaqub Mir and Mr B L Bhat has issued a notice to the state government seeking responses in a week. Next hearing of the case is slated immediately after one week.

Qadri, who retired as head of the law department in the University of Kashmir, has challenged the constitutional validity of the Section 298-A and 298-B, which regulates the ban on bovine slaughter and beef sale in the state. Section 298-A makes killing of bovine animals, including cow or an ox, a punishable offence, while the Section 298-B of the RPC makes mere “possession of such slaughtered animal” a punishable act.

In a PIL, the Jammu branch of the High Court has directed state’s home department and the police chief to ensure implementation of Section 298 across the state. The issue has brought cow-slaughter back to the public debate at a time when the two ruling coalition partners see themselves on the two opposite sides of the issue.