The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the operation of a Madras High Court judgment that had effectively prohibited the slaughter of cows and calves across Tamil Nadu, while issuing notice on the State government’s appeal challenging the legality of the directions.
File Photo: IANS
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the operation of a Madras High Court judgment that had effectively prohibited the slaughter of cows and calves across Tamil Nadu, while issuing notice on the State government’s appeal challenging the legality of the directions.
A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta passed an interim order staying the operation of the High Court judgment. Senior Advocate Dr A.M. Singhvi and Additional Advocate General Prashanto Sen appeared for the Tamil Nadu government.
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The appeal, filed by the Secretary of the Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare Department, challenges the Madras High Court’s May 27, 2026 judgment directing that no cow or calf be slaughtered anywhere in the State, including on Eid-ul-Adha (Bakrid).
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The State has contended that the High Court travelled beyond the scope of the writ petition before it, which was confined to preventing the slaughter of cows in public places during Bakrid in Coimbatore.
According to the appeal, while the High Court observed that slaughter should take place only in authorised slaughterhouses, it went on to direct that “no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day,” thereby virtually imposing a statewide prohibition.
The Tamil Nadu government has contended that the impugned directions are contrary to the statutory framework governing animal slaughter in the State, which provides for regulation through licensing and supervision rather than a blanket ban.
It has relied upon the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act, 1958, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023, and the applicable food safety regulations to contend that the law envisages regulation and not a complete prohibition.
The appeal further submits that the issue before the High Court was never whether cow slaughter should be prohibited altogether and that the State had already informed the High Court about the measures taken to ensure that slaughter was confined to authorised slaughterhouses and did not take place in public places.
It also contends that the High Court unnecessarily ventured into the question of whether cow sacrifice constitutes an essential religious practice under Islam and erroneously relied upon a 1976 Government Order as imposing a complete prohibition, contrary to the existing statutory scheme.
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