HC dismisses PIL seeking policy for UP slaughterhouses

The Allahabad High Court today dismissed a PIL seeking directions to the Uttar Pradesh government for formulation of a policy on slaughterhouses, stating that the matter is already before its Lucknow bench.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice Yashwant Verma rejected the Public Interest Litigation filed by Meerut resident Lokesh Chandra Khurana who had alleged that the absence of such a policy was leading to harassment of valid licence holders.
The issues raised in the PIL are being decided by another bench of this High Court and the state government has already been directed to formulate policy and guidelines in this regard, the bench observed.

A similar petition is pending before the Lucknow Bench.
In his PIL, Khurana had also sought directions to the state government that those running abattoirs with valid licences were not harassed in the name of closing down the illegal slaughterhouses.
The petitioner had contended that in the absence of a proper policy, the action of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state was "arbitrary and illegal" and violated the Right to Livelihood guaranteed in the Constitution.
The court, however, turned down the petition and also admonished the petitioner for filing an affidavit that was "not properly sworn" and "not according to provisions of the Allahabad High Court Rules".