Beef ban in J&K : Supreme Court to hear pleas against HC orders

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea by Jammu & Kashmir government against two “conflicting” orders of the High Court pertaining to the slaughter of bovine animals and enforcement of a ban on beef sale in the state.
Flagging the “inconsistency” in the orders, the state government brought a petition before a bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu and sought an urgent hearing. “List it on Monday,” the bench, which also comprised Justice Arun Mishra, said.
In the petition, the J&K government, through its counsel and senior advocate, Amarendra Sharan, had argued that the two orders were being “misused” to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state.
“Jammu & Srinagar Benches of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court ….. have passed two mutually conflicting orders which have grave ramifications for the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir as the orders are being misused and interpreted in a manner so as to disturb the peaceful fabric of the State,” the petition reads.
The Jammu bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had ordered police to strictly enforce the existing ban on the sale of beef in the state while the Srinagar bench had issued a notice to the state government on a petition seeking scrapping of the provision in Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) that criminalise slaughter of bovine animals.
In its special leave petition moved before the apex court the state said, “The apex court should ensure that there is uniformity and consistency in the judicial pronouncements and that there is no scope to exploit the present situation by disrupting communal harmony, amity and peace in the state and thereby alienating people of the state from national mainstream,”