Uttarakhand: HC Summons Haridwar DM For Not Complying With Order On Closure Of District’s Illegal Slaughterhouses

Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday (3 January) summoned the Haridwar District Magistrate (DM) and sought an explanation over the alleged non-compliance of its order on the closure of illegal slaughterhouses in the district, The Tribune has reported.

Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma issued the notice to Haridwar DM Deepak Rawat. The court asked Rawat to appear in the court for the next hearing in the matter on 9 January to explain the status of illegal slaughterhouses in areas under his jurisdiction.

The notice was issued while the court was hearing a contempt petition filed by one Parvez Alam. Alam contended that animals were being slaughtered at many places in Haridwar in spite of directions of the court.

The Uttarakhand High Court had invoked the doctrine of ‘parens patriae’ to become the legal guardian of cows and other stray cattle in August 2018. It had given a slew of mandatory directions towards cow protection.

“The Court by invoking the ‘parens patriae’ doctrine issues mandatory directions…in the welfare of the cows and other stray cattle any cow, bull, bullock, heifer or calf,” division bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari had said in the order.