Today, On 7th July, Bombay High Court questioned the plea seeking a 9-day slaughter ban during Jain Paryushan Parv, asking, “Under which statutory obligation should slaughterhouses be closed?” The court cautioned against setting a precedent for similar future demands.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court expressed concerns about the implications of potentially banning animal slaughter during the nine-day ‘Paryushan Parv’ of the Jain community.
The court questioned whether such an order could lead to similar demands from other communities during their festivals, such as Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri.
This arose while a bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne, was reviewing a petition from a Jain community trust challenging orders from 2024 issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the civic bodies in Nashik and Pune, which had previously prohibited animal slaughter for just one day during Paryushan last year.
The Jain community is seeking a ban on slaughter for the entire nine days starting August 21.
The trust emphasized key principles of Jain belief, particularly Ahimsa (non-violence), arguing that any animal slaughter during Paryushan Parv would undermine the principles of Jainism.
The court posed a critical question,
“It shouldn’t happen that tomorrow every other religion also makes similar demands. You (Jain community) will get an order for nine days for Paryushan Parv, and then some other community will come forward and seek similar orders for the Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri festival.”
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The bench noted that the Maharashtra government has already designated 15 days each year when slaughter is prohibited, including one day for Paryushan Parv.
The court raised doubts about its authority to intervene once a policy decision has been made, expressing uncertainty about the demographic breakdown of vegetarians and non-vegetarians in the state.
The judges also pointed out that Mumbai is surrounded by municipal corporations without slaughterhouses and therefore relies on the Deonar slaughterhouse within the city.
The court inquired,
“Under which statutory obligation should slaughterhouses be ordered to remain closed for nine days?”
The bench directed the BMC, Nashik, Pune, and Mira Bhayandar municipal corporations to review the trust’s request for a nine-day slaughter ban and provide a decision by August 18.
Senior counsel Darius Khambata, representing the trust, informed the court that last year, the BMC had justified its one-day slaughter ban by stating that Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city with a significant non-Jain population that consumes non-vegetarian food.
He noted that the Nashik and Pune civic bodies had not provided any reasoning for their orders, and the Mira Bhayandar Corporation had failed to issue an order last year altogether.
The bench instructed the trust to submit their representation to the four civic bodies for reconsideration of the decision.