JK High Court ends beef ban in state

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday withdrew its September 8 order for strict enforcement of a Dogra era law that banned the slaughter of bovines and the sale of beef in the state.

The direction was passed by a full bench of the high court, comprising of Justices M H Attar, Ali Mohammad Magray and Tashi Rabstan.

On September 8, a division bench of high court, comprising of Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Janak Raj Kotwal had ordered the government to strictly enforce the ban on sale of beef across the state, leading to widespread opposition in the state.

Even separatist and religious leaders termed it as an interference in religious affairs.

Last Saturday, the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, N.Paul Vasanthakumar, constituted a three-member bench to address the beef ban issue that generated a political controversy in the state.

Earlier, the Supreme Court, in its order, had asked Chief Justice Vasanthakumar to set up a bench at Srinagar and place before it the two "conflicting" orders that were passed in September.