Responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Sheth Motishaw Lalbaug Jain Charities, the Bombay High Court on Thursday (August 29, 2024) directed all municipal corporations in Maharashtra to urgently consider and decide on representations made by various charitable trusts of the Jain community seeking temporary ban on animal slaughter as well as sale of meat during Paryushan Parva, an eight-day annual religious observance by the Jain community to be held from August 31 to September 7, 2024.
Appearing for the petitioners, advocates Shreyash Shah and Udayan Mukherjee said the petitioner along with 30 other Jain charitable trusts made multiple representations to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and civic bodies of Pune, Mira-Bhayandar and Nashik, seeking a temporary ban on slaughtering of animals during the Jain festival.
The petition said, “The Jain community constitutes a sizeable part of the population in Maharashtra. The issue affects the religious sentiments of the Jain community. The festival marks a period of spiritual reflection, self-purification and adherence to the principles of ahimsa [non-violence]. It is observed globally by members of the community and is a period of intense spiritual practices including fasting, meditation and heightened observance of non-violence as they seek to deepen their spiritual awareness and commitment to living a life of compassion and minimal harm.”
Historical evidence
The petition also emphasised on the historical evidence of the restrictions during the Jain festival. “The restrictions as prayed in this petition can be traced back to the reign of Mughal Emperors Akbar and even Nawab Walid Ali Shah of Awadh, where ban on slaughter of animals was imposed for as long as six months with a view to promote universal tolerance in the country of great diversity.”
The practice of selling meat and slaughtering animals contradicts the very ethos of the festival and creates an environment of dissonance and conflict between the values of non-violence that the festival represents and the realities of animal slaughter, the plea said. “This situation adversely affects the sentiments of the Jain community, who find it deeply troubling to witness such practices at a time when they are striving to embody compassion and non-violence.”
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar observed, “We do not see any impediment in grant of the prayer made by learned counsel for the petitioner and accordingly we dispose of this PIL petition with a direction to the respondents to take decision on the representations made by the petitioner or any other similar organisation with the prayer to impose ban on slaughter of animals and sale of meat during Paryushan Parva. The decision by the appropriate municipal authority of the corporations on the said representations shall be taken with expedition, say by August 30, 2024. We have required the municipal corporations to take the decision urgently for the simple reason that the Paryushan Parva is to commence from August 31, 2024.”
Representing the State of Maharashtra, Government Pleader, Purnima H. Kantharia informed the Bench that in June 2019, the State government had issued a notification directing all the municipal corporations to ensure there is no slaughtering of animals or sale of meat during the first and last day of the Paryushan Parva.
The Bench said, “We may clarify that by passing this order, the court has not made any observations whatsoever on the merits of the claim of the petitioner and the representations shall, accordingly, be decided by the authority concerned of the respective municipal corporations in accordance with law and the judgments of the different courts which may be cited before the corporation concerned. We also request the learned counsel representing the respondents-corporations to apprise the municipal commissioners or any other competent authority of the respective corporations of this order forthwith without waiting for its certified copy.” The High Court disposed of the petition.
