Overview
- The Madras High Court issued the statewide ban in a judgment delivered on Wednesday and told the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to ensure no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day.
- The court treated a 1976 Tamil Nadu government order as enforceable law and ruled that slaughter is lawful only when statutory conditions are met, for example a certificate from the competent authority showing the animal is over ten years old and unfit for work or breeding.
- The judges said slaughter may occur only in designated, licensed slaughterhouses and rejected the legality of temporary or makeshift sheds that local police or officials had reportedly approved in Coimbatore.
- The High Court asked the state to report back on compliance on May 29 and directed senior officials to issue immediate instructions to district administrations and police to prevent breaches of the order.
- The Supreme Court separately declined an urgent hearing on a different petition seeking national-level enforcement ahead of Bakrid, leaving state-level implementation and policing as the current means of enforcement.