Bakrid 2018- Celebrate All Religious Festivals Within The Law, Says Bombay High Court

Observing that India is a ‘religiously sentimental’ country, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday clarified rules will apply to each and every religious festival. The high court accordingly asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to come up with an advanced online mechanism to permit slaughter of goats and sheep for the Bakri Eid festival.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Girish Kulkarni said, “India is a religiously sentimental country and we all love to celebrate each and every festival. But let it be clarified, the rule of law will be applicable on each and every religious festival. It is the duty of the administration (BMC in Mumbai) to ensure the celebrations of one religious festival do not disturb or affect another religion.” The observation was made in while hearing a writ petition filed by the NGO Jiv Maitri Trust, challenging the online mechanism launched by the BMC to permit slaughter of goats and sheep for the Bakri Eid. The petition filed through advocates Ashish Mehta and Sujoy Kantawala, had sought scrapping of the online system.

The system, however, goofed and permitted every application without ‘applying its mind’, as one such permission was granted to Neil Armstrong. It also permitted some applications to slaughter five goats each in the court presided by ACJ Patil and another courtroom presided by Justice Abhay Oka. During the course of the hearing, the bench also considered the ‘pressure’ on the BMC, which goofed in granting these online permits. “Instead of filing litigations in this court, one must look at this issue practically. Given the population of the city, one should understand the pressure under which the BMC functions. We believe the civic body needs suggestions from all the stakeholders on this issue,” ACJ Patil said.

“By this exercise, we believe the civic body might implement the mechanism in a much better manner, next year. The civic body must undertake every step to ensure all the religious festivals are celebrated within the framework of laws,” the bench added. Meanwhile, senior counsel Anil Sakhre, appearing for the BMC informed the bench of the modifications the civic body has made to the online system. “From now onwards, we will scrutinise each and every permission granted online. The modifications (in the system) have mandated applicants to furnish details pertaining to their identity and even their residence and the place of slaughter,” Sakhre submitted. Having heard the submissions, the bench posted the matter for after eight weeks, granting time to all the stakeholders to give their suggestions for enhancing the online system.