9911796707
TMI Blog1986 (4) TMI 330X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aws. Article 48 contained in Part IV provides : "48. The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry in modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle." It appears that pursuant to Article 48 of the Constitution several States enacted laws for the preservation and prohibition of the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle. The State of Bihar enacted the 'Bihar Preservation and Improvement of Animals Act, 1955' the U.P. State enacted the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955 and Madhya Pradesh enacted the C.P. and Berar Animal Preservation Act, 1949, hereinafter referred to as the Bihar, U.P. and C.P. & Berar Acts respectively, for short. These Acts put a total ban on the slaughter of all categories of animals or species of bovine cattle. The constitutional validity of these Acts was challenged in Mohd. Hanif Quareshi & Ors. v. State of Bihar & Ors., [1959] S.C.R. 629, by those whose trade or business was affected, as being violative of Arts. 14, 19(1)(g) and 25 of the Constituti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , 257, observed as follows : "The significance of the perception that Parts III and IV together constitute the core of commitment to social revolution and they, together, are the conscience of the Constitution is to be traced to a deep understanding of the scheme of the Indian Constitution. Granville Austin's observation brings out the true position that Parts III and IV are like two wheels of a chariot, one no less important than the other. You snap one and the other will lose its efficacy. They are like a twin formula for achieving the social revolution, which is the ideal which the visionary founders of the Constitution set before themselves. In other words, the Indian Constitution is founded on the bed-rock of the balance between Parts III and IV. To give absolute primacy to one over the other is to disturb the harmony of the Constitution. This harmony and balance between fundamental rights and directive principles is an essential feature of the basic structure of the Constitution. This is not mere semantics. The edifice of our Constitution is built upon the concepts crystallised in the Preamble. We resolved to constitute ourselves into a Socialist State which carried with it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s of age and was permanently unfit. The Madhya Pradesh Legislature passed a new Act, the M.P. Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1959 under which slaughter of a bull, bullock or buffalo except on a certificate issued by the competent authority was prohibited. A certificate could not be issued unless the animal was of over 20 years' age and was unfit for work or breeding. These Acts were again challenged in Abdul Hakim Quraeshi & Ors. v. State of Bihar & Ors., [1961] 2 S.C.R. 610. This Court took the view that the ban on the slaughter of bulls, bullocks and she-buffaloes below the age of 20 or 25 years was not a reasonable restriction in the interests of the general public and was void. It was on the basis that a bull, bullock or buffalo did not remain useful after 15 years and whatever little use it may have then was greatly offset by the economic disadvantages of feeding and maintaining unserviceable cattle. This Court further held that the additional condition that the animal must, apart from being above 20 or 25 years of age, also be unfit was a further unreasonable restriction. Accordingly the relevant provisions in the Bihar, U.P. and Madhya Pradesh Acts were declared inval ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aughter house had not seen the light of the day. The Municipal Corporation of Ahmedabad had, however, passed a resolution on 18th January, 1965 whereby three more days were added to the list of holidays for the slaughter house. The petitioner took up a plea that the power to keep the municipal slaughter house closed on any particular day in an area vested in the Municipal Commissioner and such a power could only be exercised by a standing order properly issued and promulgated by the Municipal Commissioner. Under the earlier standing order on 1956 made by the Municipal Commissioner municipal slaughter houses could be kept open for use on all days except on the following four days viz. Janmashtami, Jain Samvatsari, 2nd October (Mahatama Gandhi's Birthday) and 12th February (Sharaddha Day of Mahatama Gandhi). The resolution passed by the Corporation on 18th January, 1965 declaring three additional holidays for the slaughter houses, therefore, was null and void. During the pendency of the writ petition, however, a new standing order was made by the Municipal Commissioner on 17th September, 1965 in exercise of his powers under s. 466(1)(D)(b) of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itioner under Art. 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. This Court laid down : "The impugned notification, though technically within the competence of the State Government, directly infringes the fundamental right of the petitioner guaranteed by Art. 19(1)(g), and may be upheld only if it be established that it seeks to impose reasonable restrictions in the interests of the general public and a less drastic restrictions will not ensure the interest of the general public." This Court further observed : "The sentiments of a section of the people may be hurt by permitting slaughter of bulls and bullocks in premises maintained by a local authority. But a prohibition imposed on the exercise of a fundamental right to carry on an occupation, trade or business will not be regarded as reasonable, if it is imposed not in the interest of the general public, but merely to respect the susceptibilities and sentiments of a section of the people whose way of life, belief or thought is not the same as that of the claimant." The High Court, however, overruled the objection based on Art. 14 of the Constitution. The appellants have now come to challenge the judgment and order of the High Court by certif ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bited or its capacity or tendency to be harmful to the general public, the possibility of achieving the object by imposing a less drastic restraint, and in the absence of exceptional situations such as the prevalence of a state of emergency, national or local, or the necessity to maintain necessary supplies or the necessity to stop activities inherently dangerous, the existence of a machinery to satisfy the administrative authority that a case for imposing restriction is made out or a less drastic restriction may ensure the object intended to be achieved. In the light of the aforesaid principles the question for consideration is whether the closure of the slaughter house on seven days specified in the two standing orders puts a reasonable restriction on the fundamental right of the petitioner guaranteed under Art. 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. Out of the seven days declared as closed days for the slaughter house three of the days are connected with Mahatma Gandhi, that is, 2nd October being his birthday, 12th February being his Sharaddha Day and the 30th January as his Nirwan day, and out of the remaining four days, Janmashtami relates to the birth day of Lord Krishna, Ram Navami ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ain days as holidays for the slaughter house in order to give facilities to the municipal staff working in the municipal slaughter house, no body could have any objection to such a standing order. The grievance of the petitioner-respondent in the instant case is on the ground that the Municipal Commissioner by standing orders had declared days concerning Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Mahavir, Sri Ram and Lord Krishna as holidays. Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Mahavir were apostles of non-violence who lived and died for that cause. Mahatma Gandhi, venerated by the People of India as the Father of the Nation was an apostle of non-violence. Mahavir preached and practised Ahimsa and even today has a large following in the State of Gujarat. Rama and Krishna are the beloved of the Hindu Pantheon and are worshiped by large sections of the people. Rama is considered by them to be the embodiment of all virtues and of everything that is good in humanity. Krishna is known to be the expounder of the philosophy of the Geeta. Their birthdays are generally observed by the people not merely as days of festivity but also as days of abstinence from meat. One cannot, therefore, complain that these days are ill chos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... omprising public order, public security and public morals, it cannot be said that the standing orders closing the slaughter houses on seven days is not in the interest of general public. In view of the aforesaid discussion we are not prepared to hold that the closure of slaughter house on seven days specified in the two standing orders in any way put an unreasonable restriction on the fundamental right guaranteed to the petitioner-respondent under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. This leads us to the second contention raised on behalf of the respondent, which is based on Art. 14 of the Constitution. The High Court had repelled this contention for a valid reason with which we fully agree. It is now well-established that while Art. 14 forbids class legislation it does not forbid reasonable classification for the purposes of legislation and that in order to pass the test of permissible classification two conditions must be fulfilled, namely, (i) the classification must be founded on an intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from others left out of the group and (ii) such differentia must have rational relation to the object sou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
