Observing that India has no state religion and the judiciary cannot direct the state government to legislate a particular law or enact it, a three-judge bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday set aside an earlier order directing enforcement of a ban on bovine slaughter and sale of beef.
On a petition seeking repeal of pre-1947 laws that have currently outlawed bovine slaughter and made beef sale a criminal offence, the bench said the government should consider reviewing the existing laws and take a policy decision within the framework of the Constitution while ensuring that no inter-religious conflict takes place in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The courts cannot direct the state government to legislate a particular law or to enact a law in a particular manner. This court can neither direct to make a law to ban slaughter of bovine animals, nor can it direct the state government to make a law to permit slaughter of any kind of animal.
This is always a policy matter of the state and the state has to always take a call on such issues. It is only after a law is made and its validity is challenged that it becomes jurisdiction of the court to test the legality of such law,” observed the three-judge bench, comprising Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar, Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Tashi Rabstan.
“The purpose of framing laws, besides protecting the just rights of the people, is to create the atmosphere of peace and tranquility in the society,” the court said.