Karnataka passes anti-cattle slaughter bill amid ruckus in Assembly, Cong opposes

In a major development, the Karnataka Assembly passed the ' Prevention of slaughter and preservation of cattle bill, 2020' on Wednesday, amid a massive ruckus. The Bill which was tabled earlier in the day, bans slaughtering of cattle or intentionally kill cattle throughout Karnataka. Opposition parties - Congress and JDS have alleged that they were not allowed to peruse the bill and that the Bill was passed in a hurry.

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Here are the Bill's key features:

• The state government will appoint a competent authority - which will not be below the rank of Veterinary Officer, for a local area under this Act. He will be deemed as a public servant. No suit, prosecution or legal proceedings can be instituted against him for exercising powers under this Act.
• No person shall slaughter, offer or cause to slaughter, intentionally kill or offer or cause to slaughter cattle. Sale, purchase or disposal of cattle for slaughter too has been prohibited.
• No person can transport cattle for slaughtering. Only transport for bonafide agricultural or animal husbandry purposes allowed.
• Police officers, not below the rank of sub-inspector, can inspect and seize cattle and materials if he believes an offence is being committed under this Act. After seizure, a report will be filed with the sub-divisional magistrate, who may release the seized material except cattle, on production of Bank guarantee equal to value estimated by him. He may also sell confiscated premises in a public auction, if he deems so.
• The government may deem any court as a special court for speedy disposal of disputes under this Act.
• Any person aggrieved by an order under this Act may appeal to a Sessions judge within 30 days on receiving such an order

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Penalties under this Act

• A convicted person will be sentenced to three-seven years of imprisonment, and or a fine of Rs 50,000 upto Rs 5 lakhs. In case of repeat offence, fine will be Rs 1 lakh upto Rs 10 lakhs, with jail term extending upto 7 years. 
• Anyone abetting an accused with an offence will also be punished under the same offence.
• All offences are cognizable and an accused's seized cattle and materials will be given to state government upon conviction.

Exceptions to the Act

• Cattle operated on for vaccine lymph, serum or experimental purposes are exempted.
• Slaughter of cattle certified by a veterinary officer in the interest of public health exempted
• Cattle which is suffering from disease and is deemed terminally ill is exempted.

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While tabling the bill, Ministers Prabhu Chauhan and KS Eshwarappa offered Pooja to a cow in the banquet hall of Vidhan Soudha. Congress has boycotted the last day of the Assembly, claiming the Bill was rushed. Apart from Karnataka, Telangana, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh have some versions of anti-cow slaughter Act in force.

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