http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maharashtra-beef-ban-flouts-right-to-life-PIL/articleshow/46520599.cms
Maharashtra beef ban flouts right to life: PIL
Rosy Sequeira,TNN | Mar 11, 2015, 12.58 AM IST
MUMBAI: The ban on beef infringes on a citizen's fundamental rights, says a PIL filed on Tuesday in the Bombay high court, asserting that the right to eat the meat of one's choice is integral to it.
In his public interest litigation, activist Ketan Tirodkar called the recent changes in the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995, which provides for punishment for possessing or selling beef, "atrocious". Consumption and sale of beef should not be criminalized. "Right to eat should not be affected," he added.
President Pranab Mukherjee last month gave his assent to the amendments in the Act. The slaughter of cows was already banned in the state; now bulls and bullocks have been added to the list. Anyone selling beef or found in possession of it can be jailed for up to five years and fined Rs 10,000.
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Tirodkar's petition says the ban is an infringement on Article 21 (right to life), which he claims includes "the right to eat meat of one's choice". "The question is whether the State can impose such an infringement on the fundamental right by virtue of an enactment," he asked. The activist has urged the court to strike down the portion of the law which makes it an offence to possess or sell beef.
He said slaughter can be banned in the state, but there should be no restriction on beef being brought in from neighbouring states like Goa or from abroad for consumption. "Judicial activism is absolutely necessary to strike down such a portion of an enactment that surpasses the parameters laid down by Article 21 of the Constitution of India," he said. The matter will come up for hearing in due course.
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