President gives nod to Rajasthan Animals Act amendments, asks state to exclude buffalo from bovine list

The amendments give the authorities the right to seize vehicles used in the illegal transportation of cows, besides making such an act punishable with arrest. (Representational Image)

President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday approved amendments to the Rajasthan Bovine Animals (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act 1995, which gives the authorities the right to seize vehicles used in the illegal transportation of cows, besides making such an act punishable with arrest. However, Kovind has asked the Vasundhara Raje-led government to make a clarification in the Act and asked them not to include buffaloes in the list of bovine animals, ANI quoted state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore as saying.

“The state government has made a significant amendment in Rajasthan Bovine Animals (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act 1995, providing rights to seize vehicles used in the illegal transportation of cow and arrest those responsible. When we sent this to the President for concurrence of the amendment, he asked to make a clarification that buffaloes are not included in the bovine list,” Rathore said.

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The development comes at a time when Rajasthan has a rise in cow-related violence and smuggling cases. On Sunday, a suspected cow smuggler was killed during a chase by police in Rajasthan’s Alwar district. Last year, dairy farm owner Pehlu Khan was beaten to death by suspected gau rakshaks in Alwar. The incident had led to an outrage in the state.

The Rajasthan Cabinet had approved amendments to the state cow protection law, incorporating provisions of arrest and seizure of vehicles carrying cow progeny, in 2016 and was awaiting the President’s nod after it was passed in the Assembly. “The current Act prohibits transportation of bovine animals but it does not have provisions for seizing the vehicle used in such an act or for arresting the persons engaged in cow smuggling,” Rathore had said.