Goa to request court to allow cattle slaughter

Panaji, April 25 (IANS) With beef in Goa in acute short supply following a high court ban, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government assured the state assembly Thursday that it would request the court to allow slaughter of bulls and male buffaloes at the state-run meat complex.

"We will request the court on Monday to allow the state-run meat complex to slaughter bulls and he-buffaloes," Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said during a discussion in the house, even as beef has been off meat counters in the state for several days now.

The ban on beef slaughter in Goa, earlier this week follows a petition to the Panaji bench of the Bombay high court by the Govansh Raksha Abhiyaan (GRA), which had alleged various illegalities within the Goa Meat complex, at Usgao, 30 km from here.

A three-member committee, headed by a senior bureaucrat, has also been appointed to probe the allegations of the GRA.

Slaughter of bulls, oxen and male buffaloes in Goa is legally allowed only at the government's meat complex, while cow slaughter is banned here.

It is illegal to slaughter these animals anywhere else in the state, which means that there is virtually no beef available for consumption in Goa, which consumes nearly 15 tonnes of meat everyday.