Unacceptable to deny slaughterhouse permit on grounds that city is ‘religious’: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The court said, “The reason as has been taken in the return that Mandsaur is a religious city hence permission for establishment of a slaughter house cannot be given is wholly unacceptable. The issue is regulated by specific legal provisions and even the notification which has been issued by the State Government on 09.12.2011 has declared an area of only 100 meter in radius to be a sacred area. Only for issuance of such a notification the entire city cannot be considered to be a sacred area. The stand as taken in the return by respondent hence cannot be accepted.”

Ordering the municipal corporation to issue an NOC, the court said the petitioner shall be permitted to set up a slaughterhouse after taking consent under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and other applicable laws, if any. “The slaughtering of animals shall be permissible in the said slaughterhouse, but not without the consent under the aforesaid Acts and other applicable laws,” the court said.

The municipal corporation had rejected the application on the ground that Mandsaur is a sacred city.

“The process of identifying a suitable place of land for setting up of a slaughterhouse is under process. Mandsaur is a city of utmost religious significance, therefore, it would cause great prejudice and hurt religious sentiments if permission for a slaughterhouse is given. Since the matter is sensitive, the City Superintendent of Police, Mandsaur, and Officer-in-Charge of City Kotwali, Mandsaur have also requested that such permission should not be given to the petitioner,” the corporation submitted.

The petitioner, Sabir Hussain, challenged the order passed by the Chief Municipal Officer, Municipal Council, Mandsaur, on December 1, 2021, refusing to grant a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for carrying out slaughter of buffaloes and trading in meat in the city of Mandsaur.

The petitioner argued that a 2011 state government notification has designated only a 100-m radius as “sacred”, and thus a slaughterhouse could be permitted beyond that area. After his application was rejected, the petitioner moved the HC.