- (1.) The Court : This public interest litigation has been filed contending that the State ought to inform the public at large that there are certain restrictions imposed by legislation as well as in view of judgments of the Supreme Court and this High Court for animal sacrifices. The petitioner has raised this issue because of the ensuing Bakri-Id festival, which will be observed tomorrow.
(2.) A memorandum has been issued by the Principal Secretary to the Government of West Bengal, Animal Resources Development Department on 28th August, 2017 to various authorities including the Police, District Magistrates, Milk Commissioner etc. requesting them that all endeavours should be made to ensure that the directives contained in the provisions of the West Bengal Animal Slaughter Control Act, 1950, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001 are observed as well as the restrictions imposed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and this Court during the festival of ID-UD-ZOHA. This memorandum has been issued in a manner similar to previous years.
(3.) Although this memorandum would be sufficient to ensure that the persons who have been forwarded the memorandum for necessary action would perform their duties so that the restrictions are observed, the public at large may not be aware of the restrictions contained either in the judgments of the Court or in the Act of 1950 and the rules framed thereunder. This may lead to an innocent person being unaware of the restrictions falling foul of the restrictions leading to his prosecution.;