V. K. Khanna, J. - (1.) THE petitioners are butchers by profession and their business is to purchase animals and sell them after getting them slaughtered in the slaughter-house maintained by Nagar Palika, Moradabad, Respondent no. 1.
(2.) THE main dispute raised in the present writ petition is that the blood oozing out from the animals belonging to the petitioners upon their slaughter in slaughter-house is not allowed to be taken by the petitioners and the respondent claims that it has become the owner of that blood and is entitled to auction the same. At the admission stage this Court had directed the petitioners to serve the respondents who have been duly served and the parties have exchanged counter and rejoinder affidavits. The present writ petition is thus being disposed of finally in accordance with the Rule of the Court. For deciding the question raised in this writ petition it will be useful to reproduce Section 116 (d) of the U. P. Municipalities Act which runs as under :- "116. Property vested in Board-Subject to any special reservation made by the State Government all property of the nature hereinafter in this section specified and situated within the Municipality shall vest in and belong to the Board and shall with all other property which may become vested in the Board be under its direction, management and control, that is to say :- (d) all dust, dung (night soil), ashes refused animal matter or filth or rubbish of any kind or dead bodies of animals, collected by the Board from the streets, houses, privies, sewers, cesspools or elsewhere or deposited in places appointed by the Board under Section 273".
(3.) IT may be useful to notice that the Nagar Palika, Moradabad has framed bye-laws on '"slaughter house" in exercise of its powers under Section 298-F (D), J (d), 299 (1) of the United Provinces Act which have been confirmed by the State Government and have been duly published as required by Section 301 (2) of the said Act. The relevant bye-law for the purpose of deciding the controversy raised in this writ petition is provided under Section 26 of the bye-laws which runs as under :- "26. Skin, entrails and offal shall be removed from the slaughter-house by that butcher and any skin, entrails or offal not removed before the time at which the slaughter-house is closed for the day shall become the property of the board and may be disposed of in such manner as seems to it fit. Provided that, if the board so prefers, it may delegate to the officer in charge the power to have such skins, entrails or offal removed at the owner's or butcher's expense; and the officer-in-charge may refuse to such butcher or owner or his servant, any subsequent admission to the slaughter-house; until such expense is made good to the board." ;