THE BEEF BAN DEBATE: PREVAILING MISTRUST OF THE LEGISLATURE'S COMPETENCE AND THE JUDICIARY'S PRUDENCE
Abstract
It is often said that the Legislature is the best judge of the needs of its people. It understands the foremost requirements of its populace, be it legal, social, or economical, and devises its policies accordingly. Another important pillar of our democracy, the Indian Judiciary, described by some as the 'sentinel on qui vive' is, as one would prefer to believe, always on the alert protecting citizens' rights. The apex court of the land, the Supreme Court of India, is perhaps one of the most revered and trusted constitutional body in the country. Together, through a system of checks and balances, these organs of our government have efficiently shepherded our young democracy to great heights over several decades.
A major complication which these institutions have encountered for quite some time now, is the question whether to ban the slaughtering of milch an draught cattle. The debate over banning of beef resurfaced recently after the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act,1995, received assent of President Pranab Mukherjee on 26th February 2015, and was subsequently published in the Government Gazette on 4th March 2015. The origin of this debate in the independent India can be traced back to circa 1948, when the framers of the constitution debated this issue in the Constituent Assembly. Since then, this dilemma has been a recurrent attribute of the world's largest democracy.
'Beef' as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, means the flesh of a cow, bull, or ox, used as food. According to the Karnataka High Court, the dictionary meaning of beef is- the flesh of slaughtered full bull, or cow; or, a full grown bull, ox or cow especially one intended for use as meat. Since the commencement of the constitution, various states, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh being at the top of the list, have regulate the slaughter of various species of bovine cattle such as cows and their calves, bulls, bullocks and buffaloes (male and female).
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