Court steers clear on beef ban

A division bench of the J&K High Court has vacated both the petitions pertaining to the beef ban issue in the state. On Friday, the three-judge bench directed the J&K government, through the chief secretary of the state, to take appropriate steps to address the issues raised in both the petitions which were disposed of by the court. “Now, the ball is in the government’s court and they will have to take the final call on how to address the concerns of both the communities regarding beef controversy,” a senior lawyer of the J&K High Court said.
The division bench, comprising Justices Muzaffar Hussain Attar, Ali Muhammad Magrey and Tashi Rabstan, vacated the earlier order passed by its Jammu wing on 8 September. In that order, the court had directed the government to strictly enforce the RPC law which bans the “slaughter of bovines and the sale of beef” and makes it a criminal offence in the state.
The beef controversy had brought the state on the boil. The Supreme Court had stepped in to resolve the two contradictory orders passed in September when the J&K government sought its direction for appropriate action.