Maharashtra moves SC challenging Bombay HC's verdict on beef possession

The Maharashtra government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court's verdict which had decriminalised possession of beef in case the animals were slaughtered outside the state.

It has challenged the verdict of May 6 last year striking down sections 5(d) and 9(b) of the Maharashtra Animals Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995, which criminalised and imposed punishment on persons found in possession of beef of the animals, slaughtered in or outside the state, on the ground that it infringed upon a person's "right to privacy".

The high court had termed as "unconstitutional" the provisions which held mere possession of beef as crime, saying only "conscious possession" of the meat of the animals slaughtered in the state would be an offence.

The appeal would come up for hearing tomorrow before an apex court bench of justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre.

The plea, filed through advocate Nishant R Katneshwarkar, has assailed the judgement saying the restriction imposed by the 1995 Act on possession of flesh of cow, bull or bullock could not be interpreted and concluded to be an infringement of "right to privacy".