NEW DELHI: At a time when vigilante groups are active in stopping cattle smuggling purportedly to prevent slaughter, the Supreme Court has ruled that the police cannot presumptively invoke stringent provisions of anti-cattle slaughter laws against people for mere illegal transportation of bovine animals.Acquitting a person convicted by a trial court and Chhattisgarh HC for illegally transporting 32 bulls under Chhattisgarh Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 2004, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said police have failed to establish the intention of the accused that cattle were being transported for slaughter. The prosecution said the intercepted truck did not have any document that authorised the driver and cleaner to transport cattle from Chhattisgarh to Odisha.
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“The mere fact that the transport was not accompanied by any documents cannot lead to a presumption that it was for slaughter,” SC said. “We find no reason to uphold the conviction, especially when a veterinary doctor and the ‘Gaushala Committee’ chief said before the court that the seized cattle were fit for use in agriculture.”
