58 83 84 103 117 126 127 128 248 144  145 of 1956  129 of 1957
Petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for enforcement of Fundamental Rights
H J Umrigar N H Hingorani and A G Ratnaparkhi for the petitioners in all the petitions except Petition No 103 of 1956
The impugned Acts infringe the fundamental rights under article 191g of the petitioners who are butchers tanners gut merchants curers and cattle dealers to carry on their respective trades
Where as in the present case the enactment on the face of it violates a fundamental right the burden lies on those who support it to show that it falls within the purview of cl
6 of article 19
Saghir Ahmed vs The State of UP 1955 1 SCR 707 at 726 632 Chiranjitlal Chowdhuri vs The Union of India 1950 SCR 869 at 891 892
The impugned Acts put a total ban on the trade and business of the petitioners who kill only cattle
Total prohibition of a trade which is not immoral or obnoxious can never be reasonable restriction within the meaning of el
6 of article 19
Chintaman Rao vs The State of Madhya Pradesh 1950 SCR 759 at 765 RM Sheshadri vs The District Magistrate   at 689 690 Cooverjee B Bharucha vs The Excise Commis sioner    Rashid Ahmed
The Municipal Board Kairana 1950 SCR 566
Total ban on the slaughter of cattle is not in the interests of the general public
Animal husbandry will suffer by a total ban
There is shortage of fodder and pasture in the country and the useless and uneconomic cattle will deprive the useful cattle of these things
Setting up of Gosadans for the uneconomic cattle will be a tremendous waste of public money
Counsel referred to various official reports in this connection The impugned Acts create an odious discrimination between butchers and persons dealing solely in cows bulls etc and those dealing in sheep and goats and offend article 14
These Acts which single out the petitioners  community which kills only cows bulls etc are hostile and discriminatory legislation
Ye Cong Eng vs Trinidad  at 1071 Fowler vs Rhode Island   Lane vs Wilson  at 1287 Ligget Co vs Baldrige  The impugned Acts also contravene article 25 as they prohibit the Mussalmans from performing the religious practice of the community to sacrifice the cow on the occasion of Bakr Id Ratilal Panachand Gandhi vs The State of Bombay 1954 SCR 1055 at 1063
The directive principles of State policy set out in article 48 can never override fundamental rights
The State of Madras vs Sm
Champakam Dorairajan 1951 SCR 525 at 530 Saghir Ahmed s Case  1955  1 SCR 707 at 727
The impugned Acts traverse beyond the directive principles in article 48
633 The Bihar and the Madhya Pradesh Acts which affect inter State trade in cattle and beef offend article 301 and are void as the assent of the President was riot taken before enacting them
Frank Anthony and K L Mehta for the petitioners in Petition No 103 of 1956
Section 9 of the U P Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act makes the slaughtering of cattle a cognisable and non bailable offence
This and other provisions of the Act are ex facie restrictions on the right of the petitioners to carry on their trade
The onus is on the respondents to show that the restrictions are reasonable restrictions in the interests of the general public
Chintaman Rao vs The State of Madhya Pradesh 1950 section C R 759 at 763 Seghir Ahmed vs The State of U P 1955 1 section C It
707 at 726
The legislation is colourable and mala fide and is inspired by religious motives
State of Madras vs V G Rao 1952 section C R 597
Article 48 in so far as its imposes blanket ban on cow would have to yield to article 19 1 g
The restrictions in the Act amount to total prohibition and extinction of the trade of beef butchers
Saghir Ahmed s case Dwarka Prasad Laxmi Narain vs The State of U P    Fairmout Creamery Co vs Minnesota  it 897
The impugned Act offends article 14 as it discriminates against the beef butchers
These butchers have a legal right to slaughter cow for food or sacrifice
Naubahar Singh vs Qadir Bux A 1
R 1930 All 753 Shahbazkhan vs Umrao Puri I L R 30 All 181 Emperor vs
Muhammad Yakub I L R 32 All
C K Daphtary Solicitor General of India with Mahabir Prasad Advocate General of Bihar and section P Varma respondent in Petitions Nos 58 83 and 84 of 1956 and with R H Dhebar for the State of Bombay respondent in Petition No 117 of 1956
The legislature has thought fit that slaughter of cattle should be stopped in the inter states of animal husbandry and public policy
It is not for the Court to say that such a policy should not have been adopted
Both on the question of policy at id the extent of the restrictions 634 the Court should interfere only if it is convinced that in no view of the matter could the restrictions be reasonable
There are two conflicting opinions on this controversial matter i e whether there should be total ban or only partial ban
In such a case the opinion of the legislators must prevail and the Court should not interfere where there is controversy as to facts
State of Madras vs V G Rao 1952 section C R 597 at 606 The State of Bihar vs Maharajadhiraja Sir Kameshwar Singh 1952 section C R 889 at 941 Arumugham vs State of Madras I L R 1953 Mad 937
Unless it can be said that the restrictions have no bearing on the object sought to be achieved the legislation must be upheld
Article 37 enjoins the State to apply the directive principles of State policy in Part IV of the Constitution in making law
 The legislation is in accordance with the direction given in article 48
The object of the legislation is not to control any trade or industry but to improve the breed of cattle and to organise animal husbandry and agriculture
Unless the legislation directly hits trade or business it does not infringe article 19 1 g
A K Gopalan vs The State   at 101 Ram Singh vs The State of Delhi  1951 section C R 451 at 455 457 R section Ram Jawaya Kapur vs The State of Punjab 1955 2 KS
C R 225 State of Bombay vs R M D Chamar baugwala  A I R at 721
BSen and R H Dhebar for the State of Bombay respondent in Petitions Nos
126 to 128 and 248 of 1956 and for the State of Madhya Pradesh respondent in Petition No 144 of 1956
MAdhicary Advocate General for the State of Madhya Pradesh and I N Shroff for the State of Madhya Pradesh respondent in Petition No 145 of 1956 adopted the arguments of C K Daphtary
H N Sanyal Additional Solicitor General of India GC Mathur and C P Lal for the State of U P respondent in Petitions Nos 103 of 1956 and 129 of 1957
The provisions of the U P Act have a reasonable relation to the purpose in view i e the directive 635 in article 48 and consequently the Act cannot be said to offend article 19 1 g
Chintaman Rao vs The State of Madhya Pradesh 1950 section C R 759 at 763
According to the facts and figures given in the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee s Report the cattle population was actually decreasing and total ban on slaughter was necessary to protect and preserve the cattle
The State of U P had made ample provisions for looking after the decrepit cattle and such cattle also was not uneconomic as it yielded hides and manure
The U P Act which prohibits the slaughter of cattle but not that of buffaloes does not offend article 14 as the discrimination is based upon proper classification
The buffalo does not require any protection
The female buffalo is in no danger as its yield of milk is very high
The he buffalo is not very useful for draught purposes and there is no need to protect it
Besides the buffalo population is steadily increasing
The U P Act does not violate article 25
Article 25 of our Constitution is similar to article 8 of the Irish Constitution
There is no religious compulsion on the Mussalmans to sacrifice a cow on Bakr Id Day
Thakurdas Bhargava as amicus curiae
The directive principles of State policy in Part IV of the Constitution are superior to fundamental rights and the enactments which are in pursuance of the directions given by article 48 are valid and constitutional even though they may infringe the fundamental rights of the petitioners
The total ban on cow slaughter in the impugned Acts is justified and is in the interests of the general public
The facts and figures given in the official reports are inaccurate and there is no real shortage of fodder or pasture land
There is shortage of milk in the country and it is essential to protect the cow
The bullock takes the largest share in meeting the power requirement for our agricultural production
Cow dung manure contributes about rupees 63 crores per year to our national income
HJ Umrigar in reply
Frank Anthony also replied
636 1958
April 23
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by DAS C J
These 12 petitions under article 32 of our Constitution raise the question of the constitutional validity of three several legislative enactments banning the slaughter of certain animals passed by the States of Bihar Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh respectively
The controversy concerning the slaughter of cows has been raging in this country for a number of years and in the past it generated considerable illwill amongst the two major communities resulting even in riots and civil commotion in some places
We are however happy to note that the rival contentions of the parties to these proceedings have been urged before us without importing into them the heat of communal passion and in a rational and objective way as a matter involving constitutional issues should be
Some of these petitions come from Bihar some from U P and the rest from Madhya Pradesh but as they raise common questions of law it will be convenient to deal with and dispose of them together by one common judgment
Petitions Nos
58 of 1956 83 of 1956 and 84 of 1956 challenge the validity of the Bihar Preservation and Improvement of Animals Act 1955 Bihar 11 of 1956 hereinafter referred to as the Bihar Act
In Petition No 58 of 1956 there are 5 petitioners all of whom are Muslims belonging to the Quraishi community which is said to be numerous and an important section of Muslims of this country
The members of the community are said to be mainly engaged in the butchers  trade and its subsidiary undertakings such as the sale of hides tannery glue making gut making and blooddehydrating while some of them are also engaged in the sale and purchase of cattle and in their distribution over the various areas in the State of Bihar as well as in the other States of the Union of India
Petitioners Nos 1 and 2 are butchers and meat vendors who according to the petition only slaughter cattle and not sheep or goats and are called  Kasais  in contradistinction to the  Chicks  who slaughter 637 only sheep and goats
After slaughtering the cattle these petitioners sell the hides to tanners or bide merchants who are also members of their community and the intestines are sold to gut merchants
It is said that there are approximately 500 other Kasais in Patna alone apart from 2 lacs of other Kasais all over the State of Bihar
The correctness of these figures is not admitted by the respondent State but we do not doubt that the number of Kasais is considerable
Petitioner No 3 is the owner of a tanning factory and Petitioner No 4 is a gut merchant while Petitioner No 5 is the General Secretary of Bihar State Jamiatul Quraish
In petition No 83 there are 180 petitioners residing at different places in the State of Bihar who are all Muslims whose occupation is that of Kasais or cattle dealers or exporters of hides
In Petition No 84 there are 170 petitioners all residents of Patna District who are also Muslims belonging to the Quraishi community and who carry on business as Kasais or dealers of cattle
All the petitioners in these three petitions are citizens of India
The Bill which was eventually passed as the Bihar Act was published in the Bihar Gazette on April 20 1953
The scheme of the Bill as originally drafted was it is said to put a total ban only on the slaughter of cows and calves of cows below three years of age
The Bill was sent to a Select Committee and its scope appears to have been considerably enlarged as will be seen presently
The Bill as eventually passed by the Bihar Legislature received the assent of the Governor on December 8 1955 and was published in the Official Gazette on January 11 1956
Section 1 of the Act came into force immediately upon such publication but before any notification was issued under sub section
3 of section 1 bringing the rest of the Act or any part of it into force in the State or any part of it the present petitions were filed in this Court challenging the consti tutional validity of the Act
On applications for an interim order restraining the State of Bihar from issuing a notification under section 13 of the Act bringing the Act into operation having been made in these petitions the respondent State by and through the learned 638 Solicitor General of India gave an undertaking not to issue such notification until the disposal of these petitions and in the premises no order was considered necessary to be made on those applications
Petition No 103 of 1956 has been filed by two petitioners who are both Muslims residing in Uttar Pradesh and carrying on business in that State the first one as a hide merchant and the second as a butcher
Petitioners in Petition No 129 are eight in number all of whom are Muslims residing and carrying on business in Uttar Pradesh either as gut merchants or cattle dealers or Kasais or beef vendors or bone dealers or hide merchants or cultivators
All the petitioners in these two applications are citizens of India
By these two petitions the petitioners challenge the validity of the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act 1955 LT P 1 of 1956 hereinafter referred to as the U P Act and pray for a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent State of Uttar Pradesh not to take any steps in pursuance of the U P Act or to interfere with the fundamental rights of the petitioners
Petitions Nos 117 of 1956 126 of 1956 127 of 1956 128 of 1956 248 of 1956 144 of 1956 and 145 of 1956 have been filed by 6 95 541 58 37 976 and 395 petitioners respectively all of whom are Muslims belonging to the Quraishi Community and are mainly engaged in the butchers  trade and its subsidiary undertaking such as the supply of hides tannery glue making gutmaking and blood dehydrating
Most of them reside at different places which at the dates of the filing of these petitions were parts of the State of Madhya Pradesh but which or parts of which have in the course of the recent re organisation of the States been transferred to and amalgamated with the State of Bombay
In consequence of such re organisation of the States the State of Bombay has had to be substituted for the respondent State of Madhya Pradesh in the first five petitions and to be added in the sixth petition for a part of the district in which the petitioners resided had been so transferred while the State of Madhya Pradesh continues to be the respondent in the seventh 639 petition
By these petitions the petitioners II of whom are citizens Of India challenge the validity of the C P and Berar Animal Preservation Act 1949 C P and Berar Lll of 1949 as subsequently amended
In order to appreciate the arguments advanced for and against the constitutional validity of the three impugned Acts it will be necessary to refer to the relevant provisions of the Constitution under or pursuant to which they have been made
Reference must first be made to article 48 which will be found in Chapter IV of the Constitution which enshrines what are called the directive principles of State policy
Under article 37 these directive principles are not enforceable by any court of law but are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and are to be applied by the State in making laws
Article 48 runs thus Organisation 48
The State shall endeavour of agriculture and to organise agriculture and animal husbandry
animal husbandry oil modern and scientific lines and shall in parti cular take steps for preserving and improving the breeds and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle
 The principal purpose of this article according to learned counsel for the petitioners is to direct the State to endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and the rest of the provisions of that article are ancillary to this principal purpose
They contend that the States are required to take steps for preserving and improving the breeds and for prohibiting the slaughter of the animals specified therein only with a view to implement that principal purpose that is to say only as parts of the general scheme for organising our agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines
Learned counsel for the petitioners refer to the marginal note to article 48 in support of their contention on this part of the case
They also rely on entry 15 640 in List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution
That entry reads  Preservation protection and improvement of stock and prevention of animal diseases veterinary training and practice
 There is no separate legislative head for prohibition of slaughter of animals and that fact they claim lends support to their conclusion that the prohibition of the slaughter of animals specified in the last part of article 48 is only ancillary to the principal directions for preservation protection and improvement of stock which is what is meant by organising agriculture and animal husbandry
Learned counsel for the respondents and Pandit Thakurdas Bhargava who appears as amicus cutriae on the other hand maintain that the article contains three distinct and separate directions each of which should they urge be implemented independently and as a separate charge
It is not necessary for us on this occasion to express a final opinion on this question
Suffice it to say that there is no conflict between the different parts of this article and indeed the two last directives for preserving and improving the breeds and for the prohibition of slaughter of certain specified animals represent as is indicated by the words  in particular  two special aspects of the preceding general directive for organising agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines
Whether the last two directives are ancillary to the first as contended for by learned counsel for the peti tioners or are separate and independent items of directives as claimed by counsel on the other side the directive for taking steps for preventing the slaughter of the animals is quite explicit and positive and contemplates a ban on the slaughter of the several categories of animals specified therein namely cows and calves and other cattle which answer the description of milch or draught cattle
The protection recommended by this part of the directive is in our opinion confined only to cows and calves and to those animals which are presently or potentially capable of yielding milk or of doing work as draught cattle but does not from the very nature of the purpose for which it is obviously recommended extend to cattle which at 641 one time were milch or draught cattle but which have ceased to be such
It is pursuant to these directive principles and in exercise of the powers conferred by articles 245 and 246 of the Constitution read with entry 15 in List 11 of the Seventh Schedule thereto that the Legislatures of Bihar Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have respectively enacted the statutes which are challenged as unconstitutional
In order properly to appreciate the meaning and scope of the impugned Acts it has to be borne in mind that each one of those Acts is a law with respect to  preservation protection and improvement of stock  and their constitutional validity will have to be judged in that context and against that background
Keeping this consideration in view we proceed now to examine the relevant provisions of the three Acts
The title of the Bihar Act is  An Act to provide for the preservation and improvement of certain animals in the State of Bihar Sub section 3 of section 1 provides that that section shall come into force at once and the remaining provisions of the Act or any of them shall come into force on such date as the State Government may by notification appoint and that different dates may be appointed for different provisions and for different areas
Section 2 is the definition section and the following definitions are to be noted a  Animal  means ibull bullock cow heifer buffalo calf sheep goat and any other ruminating animal ii poultry and iii elephant horse camel ass mule dog swine and such other domesticated animals as may be specified in this behalf by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette b          c  bull  means an uncastrated male above the age of three years belonging to the species of bovine cattle  d  bullock  means a castrated male above the age of three years belonging to the species specified in clause e calf  means a female or a castrated or 642 uncastrated male of the age of three years and below belonging to the species specified in clause c f          g  cow  means a female above the age of three years belonging to the species specified in clause e  Section 3 which is the principal section for the purposes of the Bihar Petitions runs as follows  3
Prohibition of slaughter of cow calf bull or bullock
Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force or in any usage or custom to the contrary no person shall slaughter a cow the calf of a cow a bull or a bullock Provided that the State Government may by general or special order and subject to such conditions as it may think fit to impose allow the slaughter of any such animal for any medicinal or research purposes
 Section 4 provides for penalties for contravention or attempted contravention or abetment of contravention of any of the provisions of section 3
The remaining provision in the following three chapters are not material for our present purpose
It will be noticed that the words  bull   bullock   calf  and  cow have been defined in cls
c d e and g of section 2 as belonging to the species of bovine cattle
The expression  species of bovine cattle  is wide enough to in elude and does in ordinary parlance include buffaloesmale or female adults or calves
Therefore the corresponding categories of buffaloes namely buffalo bulls buffalo bullocks buffalo calves and she buffaloes must be taken as included in the four defined categories of the species of bovine cattle and as such within the prohibition embodied in section 3 of the Act
It is to be noted however that the allegations in the petitions and the affidavits in opposition proceed on the assumption that buffaloes male or female adults or calves were not within the protection of the section and indeed when the attention of learned counsel for the petitioners was drawn to the reference to the  species of bovine cattle  in each of the four definitions they 643 still made an attempt to support the latter view by suggesting that if buffaloes were to be included within the words defined in cls
c d e and g then there was no necessity for specifying it separately in the definition of  animal  in el
This argument does not appear to us to be sound at all for then on a parity of reasoning it was wholly unnecessary to specify heifer  in the definition of  animal 
If heifer is not to be included in the definition of cow  because heifer  is separately enumerated in the definition of animal  then an astounding result will follow namely that the operative part of section 3 will not prohibit the slaughter of  heifer  at all a result which obviously could not possibly have been intended
The obvious reason for the enumeration of the different categories of animals in the definition of  animal  must have been to provide a word of wide import so that all those sections where the wider word  animal  is used may apply to the different kinds of animals included within that term
If the intention of the Bihar legislature was to exclude buffaloes male or female adults or calves from the protection of section 3 then it must be said that it has failed to fulfil its intention
The U P Act is intituled  An Act to prohibit the slaughter of COW and its progeny in Uttar Pradesh
 The preamble to the Act recites the expediency  to prohibit and prevent the slaughter of cow and its progeny in Uttar Pradesh
Although the 17
P Act has been made under entry 15 in List 11 and presumably pursuant to the directives contained in article 48 nowhere in the Act is there any express reference whatever to the  preservation protection or improvement of stock
 Section 2 defines  beef  as meaning the flesh of cow but does not include the flesh of cow contained in sealed containers and imported as such in Uttar Pradesh
Clause b is very important for it defines  cow  as including a bull bullock heifer or calf
Section 3 which is the operative section runs thus 3
Notwithstanding anything contained in any 82 644 other law for the time being in force or any usage or custom to the contrary no person shall slaughter or cause to be slaughtered or offer or cause to be offered for slaughter any cow in any place in Uttar Pradesh Two exceptions are made by section 4 in respect of cows suffering from contagious or infectious disease or which is subjected to experimentation in the interest of medical or public health research
Section 5 prohibits the sale or transport of beef or beef products in any form except for medicinal purposes and subject to  the provisions of the exception therein mentioned
Section 6 on which counsel for the State relies provides for the establishment by the State Government or by any local authority wherever so directed by the State Government of institutions as may be necessary for taking care of uneconomic cows
Under section 7 the State Government may levy such charges or fees as may be prescribed for keeping uneconomic cows in the institutions
Section 8 provides for punishment for contravention of the provisions of sections 3 4 and 5
Section 9 makes the offences created by the Act cognisable and non bailable
Section 10 gives power to the State Government to make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the Act
It should be noted that the U P Act protects the  cow  which according to the definition includes only bulls bullocks heifer and calves
There is no reference to the species of bovine cattle and therefore the buffaloes male or female adults or calves are completely outside the protection of this Act
The C P and Berar Act of 1949 was originally intituled  An Act to provide for preservation of certain animals by controlling the slaughter thereof and the preamble recited that it was  expedient to provide for the preservation of certain animals by controlling the slaughter thereof Animal  was defined in section 2 as meaning an animal specified in the schedule
The schedule specified the following categories of animals namely 1 bulls 2 bullocks 3 cows 4 calves 5 male and female buffaloes and 6 buffalo calves
Section 4 originally prohibited the slaughter 645 of an  animal  without certificate
There was then no total ban on the slaughter of any animal as defined
In 1951 the C P and Berar Animal Preservation Act 1949 was amended by the Madhya Pradesh Act XXIII of 1951
By this amending Act the words  by prohibiting or  were added to the long title and the preamble before the word  controlling  and a new clause was added to section 2 as el
i a defining  cow  as including a female calf of a cow and sub section
1 of section 4 was amended so as to read as follows 1 Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force or in any usage to the contrary no person a shall slaughter a cow or b shall slaughter any other animal unless he has obtained in respect of such other animal a certificate in writing signed by the executive authority and the veterinary officer for the area in which the animal is to be slaughtered that the animal is fit for slaughter Thus a total ban was imposed on the slaughter of cows and female calf of a cow and the male calf of a cow bull bullock buffalo male or female adult or calf could be slaughtered on obtaining a certificate
The Act was further amended in 1956 by Act X of 1956 substituting for the amended definition of  cow  introduced by the amending Act of 1951 as cl
1a of section 2 of the C P and Berar Animal Preservation Act 1949 a new definition of  cow  as including a male or female calf of a cow bull bullock or heifer and a new schedule specifying only 1 cows 2 male and female buffaloes and 3 buffalo calves was substituted for the original schedule to the Act
Shortly put the position in Madhya Pradesh has been this while under the C P and Berar Animal Preservation Act 1949 as it originally stood the slaughter of all categories of animals mentioned in the original schedule were only controlled by the requirement of a certificate from the appropriate authority before the actual slaughter by the amending Act XXIII of 1951 a total ban was imposed on the slaughter of  cows  which was then defined as including only a female calf of a 646 cow and the slaughter of all other categories of animals coming within the original schedule was controlled and finally after the amending Act X of 1956 there is now a total ban on the slaughter of  cows  which by the new definition includes a male or female calf of a cow bull bullock or heifer so that the male and female buffaloes and buffalo calves male and female can still be slaughtered but on certificate issued by the proper authorities mentioned in the Act
The Madhya Pradesh Act X of 1956 amending the C P and Berar Animal peservation Act 1949 received the assent of the Governor on May 18 1956
The C P and Berar Animal Preservation Act 1949 as amended up to 1956 is hereinafter referred to as the Madhya Pradesh Act  To sum up under the Bihar Act there is in the State of Bihar a total ban on slaughter of all categories of animals of the species of bovine cattle
In Uttar Pradesh there is under the If
P Act a total ban on the slaughter of cows and her progeny which include bulls bullocks heifer or calves
The buffaloes male or female adults or calves are completely outside the protection of the Act
In the present Madhya Pradesh and the districts which formerly formed part of Madhya Pradesh but have since been transferred to the State of Bombay and where the Madhya Pradesh law including the Madhya Pradesh Act still applies there is a total ban on the slaughter of cow male or female calves of a cow bulls bullocks or heifers and the slaughter of buffaloes male or female adults or calves are controlled in that their slaughter is permitted under certificate granted by the proper authorities mentioned in the Act
No exception has been made in any of these three Acts permitting slaughter of cattle even for bona fide religious purposes such as has been made say in the Bombay Animal Preservation Act 1948 Bom
LXXXI of 1948
As already stated the petitioners who are citizens of India and Muslims by religion mostly belong to the Quraishi community and are generally engaged in the butchers  trade and its subsidiary undertakings such as supply of hides tannery glue making gut making 647 and blood de hydrating Those who carry on the butchers trade are mostly
Kasais who the petitioners say kill only cattle but not ship or goat which are slaughtered by other persons known as Chicks
Learned counsel appearing for the petitioners challenge the constitutional validity of the Acts respectively applicable to them on three grounds namely that they offend the fundamental rights guaranteed to them by articles 14  191g and 25
Learned counsel appearing for the respondent States of course seek to support their respective enactments by controverting the reasons advanced by learned counsel for the petitioners
Bharat Go Sevak Samaj All India AntiCow Slaughter Movement Committee Sarvadeshik Arya pratinidhi Sabha and M P Gorakshan Sangh put in petitions for leave to intervene in these proceedings
Under Order XLI rule 2 of  the Supreme Court Rules intervention is permitted only to the Attorney General of India or the Advocates General for the States
There is no other express provision for permitting a third party to intervene in the proceedings before this Court
In practice however this Court in exercise of its inherent powers allows a third party to intervene when such third party is a party to some proceedings in this Court or in the High Courts where the same or similar questions are in issue for the decision of this Court will conclude the case of that party
In the present case however the peti tioners for intervention are not parties to any proceedings and we did not think it right to permit them formally to intervene in these proceedings but in view of the importance of the questions involved in these proceedings we have heard Pandit Thakurdas Bhargava who was instructed by one of these petitioners for intervention as amicus curiae
We are deeply indebted to all learned counsel appealing for the parties and to Pandit Thakurdas Bhargava for the valuable assistance they have given us
Before we actually take tip and deal with the alleged infraction of the petitioners  fundamental rights it is necessary to dispose of a preliminary question raised by Pandit Thakurdas Bhargava
It will be recalled 648 that the impugned Acts were made by the States in discharge of the obligations laid on them by article 48 to endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry and in particular to take steps for preserving and improving the breeds and prohibiting the slaughter of certain specified animals
These directive principles it is true are not enforceable by any court of law but nevertheless they are fundamental in the governance of the country and it is the duty of the State to give effect to them
These laws having thus been made in discharge of that fundamental obligation imposed on the State the fundamental rights conferred on the citizens and others by Chapter III of the Constitution must be regarded as subordinate to these laws
The directive principles says learned counsel are equally if not more fundamental and must prevail
We are unable to accept this argunent as sound
Article 132 expressly says that the State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights conferred by Chapter III of our Constitution which enshrines the fundamental rights
The directive principles cannot over ride this categorical restriction imposed on the legislative power of the State
A harmonious interpretation has to be placed upon the Constitution and so interpreted it means that the State should certainly implement the directive principles but it must do so in such a way that its laws do not take away or abridge the fundamental rights for otherwise the protecting provisions of Chapter III will be  a mere rope of sand 
As this Court has said in the State of Madras vs Smt
Champakam Dorairajan 1  The directive principles of State policy have to conform to and run as subsidiary to the Chapter on Fundamental Rights
Coming now to the arguments as to the violation of 4 the petitioners  fundamental rights it will be convenient to take up first the complaint founded on article 251
That article runs as follows  Subject to public order morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess practise and propagate religion
1  531 649 After referring to the provisions of el
2 which lays down certain exceptions which are not material for our present purpose this Court has in Ratilal Panachand Gandhi vs The State of Bombay 1 explained the meaning and scope of this article thus  Thus subject to the restrictions which this article imposes every person has a fundamental right under our Constitution not merely to entertain such religious belief as may be approved of by his judgment or conscience but to exhibit hisbelief and ideas in such overt acts as are enjoinedor sanctioned by his religion and further to propagatehis religious views for the edification of others
Itis immaterial also whether the propagation is made by a person in his individual capacity or on behalf of any church or institution
The free exercise of religion by which is meant the performance of outward acts in pursuance of relgious belief is as stated above subject to State regulation imposed to secure order public health and morals of the people
 What then we inquire are the materials placed before us to substantiate the claim that the sacrifice of a cow is enjoined or sanctioned by Islam  The materials before us are extremely meagre and it is surprising that on a matter of this description the allegations in the petition should be so vague
In the Bihar Petition No 58 of 1956 are set out the following bald allegations That the petitioners further respectfully submit that the said impugned section also violates the fundamental rights of the petitioners guaranteed tinder Article 25 of the Constitution in as much as on the occasion of their Bakr Id Day it is the religious practice of the petitioners  community to sacrifice a cow on the said occasion
The poor members of the community usually sacrifice one cow for every 7 members whereas it would require one sheep or one goat for each member which would entail considerably more expense
As a result of the total ban imposed by the impugned section the petitioners would not even be allowed to make the said sacrifice which is a practice 1 1954 SCR 1055 1062 1063
650 and custom in their religion enjoined upon them by the Holy Quran and practised by all Muslims from time immemorial and recognised as such in India
 The allegations in the other petitions are similar
These are met by an equally bald denial in para
21 of the affidavit in opposition
No affidavit has been filed by any person specially competent to expound the relevant tenets of Islam No reference is made in the petition to any particular Surah of the Holy Quran which in terms requires the sacrifice of a cow
All that was placed before us during the argument were Surah XXII Verses 28 and 33 and Surah XXII
What the Holy book enjoins is that people should pray unto the Lord and make sacrifice
We have no affidavit before us by any Maulana explaining the implications of those Verses or throwing any light on this problem
We however find it laid down in Hamilton s translation of Hedaya Book XLIII at p 592 that it is the duty of every free Mussulman arrived at the age of maturity to offer a sacrifice on the Yd Kirban or festival of the sacrifice provided he be then possessed of Nisab and be not a traveller
The sacrifice established for one person is a goat and that for seven a cow or a camel
It is therefore optional for a Muslim to sacrifice a goat for one person or a cow or a camel for seven persons
It does not appear to be obligatory that a person must sacrifice a cow
The very fact of an option seems to run counter to the notion of an obligatory duty
It is however pointed out that a person with six other members of his family may afford to sacrifice a cow but may not be able to afford to sacrifice seven goats
So there may be an economic compulsion although there is no religious compulsion
It is also pointed out that from time immemorial the Indian Mussalmans have been sacrificing cows and this practice if not enjoined is certainly sanctioned by their religion and it amounts to their practice of religion protected by article 25
While the petitioners claim that the sacrifice of a cow is essential the State denies the obligatory nature of the religious practice
The fact emphasised by the respondents cannot be 651 disputed namely that many Mussalmans do not sacrifice a cow on the Bakr Id Day
It is part of the known history of India that the Moghul Emperor Babar saw the wisdom of prohibiting the slaughter of cows as and by way of religious sacrifice and directed his son Humayun to follow this example
Similarly Emperors Akbar Jehangir and Ahmad Shah it is said prohibited cow slaughter
Nawab Hyder Ali of Mysore made cow slaughter an offence punishable with the cutting of the hands of the offenders
Three of the member of the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee set up by the Uttar Pradesh Government in 1953 were Muslims and concurred in the unanimous recommendation for total ban on slaughter of cows
We have however no material on the record before us which will enable us to say in the face of the foregoing facts that the sacrifice of a cow on that day is an obligatory overt act for a Mussalman to exhibit his religious belief and idea
In the premises it is not possible for us to uphold this claim of the petitioners
The next complaint is against the denial of the equal protection of the law
It is thus formulated The petitioners are Muslims by religion and butchers Kasais by occupation and they carry on the trade of selling beef
The impugned Acts prejudicially affect only the Muslim Kasais who kill cattle but not others who kill goats and sheep and who sell goats  meat and mutton
It is therefore clear that only the Muslim Kasais who slaughter only cattle but not sheep or goats have been singled out for hostile and discriminatory treatment
Their further grievance is that the U P Act makes a distinction even between butchers who kill cattle and butchers who kill buffaloes and the Madhya Pradesh Act also makes a like discrimination in that slaughter of buffaloes is permitted although under certificate while slaughter of cows bulls bullocks and calves are totally prohibited
In the premises the petitioners contend that the law which permits such discrimination must be struck down as violative of the salutary provisions of article 14 of the Constitution
83 652 The meaning scope and effect of article 14 which is the equal protection clause in our Constitution has been explained by this Court in a series of decisions in cases beginning with Chiranjitlal Choudhury vs The Union of India 1 and ending with the recent case of Ram Krishna Dalmia and others vs Sri Justice section RTendolkar 2
It is now well established that while article 14 forbids class legislation it does not forbid reasonable classification for the purposes of legislation and that in order to pass the test of permissible classi fication two conditions must be fulfilled namely i the classification must be founded on an intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from others left out of the group and ii such differentia must have a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the statute in question
The classification it has been held may be founded on different bases namely geographical or according to objects or occupations or the like and what is necessary is that there must be a nexus between the basis of  classification and the object of the Act under consideration
The pronouncements of this Court further establish amongst other things that there is always a presumption in favour of the constitutionality of an enactment and that the burden is upon him who attacks it to show that there has been a clear violation of the constitutional principles
The courts it is accepted must presume that the legislature understands and correctly appreciates the needs of its own people that its laws are directed to problems made manifest by experience and that its discriminations are based on adequate grounds
It must be borne in mind that the legislature is free to recognise degrees of harm and may confine its restrictions to those cases where the need is deemed to be the clearest and finally that in order to sustain the presumption of constitutionality the Court may take into consideration matters of common knowledge matters of common report the history of the times and may assume every state of facts which can be conceived existing at the time of legislation
We therefore proceed to examine 1  2  653 the impugned Acts in the light of the principles thus enunciated by this Court
The impugned Acts it may be recalled have been made by the States in discharge of the obligations imposed on them by article 48
In order to implement the directive principles the respective Legislatures enacted the impugned Acts in exercise of the powers conferred on them by article 246 read with entry 15 in List II of the Seventh Schedule
It is therefore quite clear that the objects sought to be achieved by the impugned Acts are the preservation protection and improvement of livestocks
Cows bulls bullocks and calves of cows are no doubt the most important cattle for the agricultural economy of this country
Female buffaloes yield a large quantity of milk and are therefore well looked after and do not need as much protection as cows yielding a small quantity of milk require
As draught cattle male buffaloes are not half as useful as bullocks
Sheep and goat give very little milk compared to the cows and the female buffaloes and have practically no utility as draught animals
These different categories of animals being susceptible of classification into separate groups on the basis of their usefulness to society the butchers who kill each category may also be placed in distinct classes according to the effect produced on society by the carrying on of their respective occupations
Indeed the butchers who kill cattle according to the allegations of the petitioners themselves in their respective petitions form a well defined class based on their occupation
That classification is based on an intelligible differentia which places them in a well defined class and distinguishes them from those who kill goats and sheep and this differentia has a close connection with the object sought to be achieved by the impugned Act namely the preservation protection and improvement of our livestock
The attainment of these objectives may well necessitate that the slaughterers of cattle should be dealt with more stringently than the slaughterers of say goats and sheep
The impugned Acts therefore have adopted a classification on sound and intelligible basis and can quite clearly stand the test laid down in 654 the decisions of this Court
Whatever objections there may be against the validity of the impugned Acts the denial of equal protection of the laws does not prima facie appear to us to be one of them
In any case bearing in mind the presumption of constitutionality attaching to all enactments founded on the recognition by the court of the fact that the legislature correctly appreciates the needs of its own people there appears to be no escape from the conclusion that the petitioners have not discharged the onus that was on them and the challenge under article 14 cannot therefore prevail
Learned counsel for the petitioners then take their final stand on article 191g
Immediately learned counsel for the respondents counter the charge by saying that article 191g can hit only the law which purports to directly violate its provisions
The impugned Acts we are reminded have been made in implementation of the directive principles laid down in article 48 and are laws with respect to matters set forth in entry 15 of List II and it is emphasised that the sole purpose of these enactments is to secure the preservation protection and improvement of stock and that its real aim is not to take away or abridge the rights guaranteed by article 191g
If at all these enactments may only indirectly and incidentally affect those rights but that circumstance cannot alter their real nature and purpose
Reliance is placed in support of this contention on the following observations of Kania C J in A K Gopalan vs The State 1
 If there is a legislation directly attempting to control a citizen s freedom of speech or expression or his right to assemble peaceably and without aims etc the question whether that legislation is saved by the relevant saving clause of article  19 will arise
If however the legislation is not directly in respect of any of these subjects but as a result of the operation of other legislation for instance for punitive or preventive detention his right under any of these sub clauses is abridged the question of the application of article 19 does not arise
The true approach is only to consider the directness of the legislation and not what will 1   101
655 be the result of the detention otherwise valid on the mode of the detenue s life
 This part of the argument advanced on behalf of the respondents is further sought to be reinforced by the fact that the above observations of Kania C J had subsequently been adopted by this Court in Ram Singh vs
The State of Delhi 1
Those observations of Kania C J should in our opinion be read in the context of the facts of those cases
It should be remembered that both these cases arose out of orders made under the 
Article 22 which is to be found in Chapter III of the Constitution recognises the necessity for preventive detention however odious it may be
The purpose of the Act under which the detention orders had been made in those cases was to prevent the persons concerned from acting in any manner prejudicial to one or other of the three impor tant matters specified therein
The effect of the execution of the orders was to deprive those persons of their liberty according to procedure established by law
Preventive detention like punitive detention having taken away the personal liberty of those persons they could not claim the rights under article 191a to e and g for those were the rights of free men
It was therefore considered that the primary and direct object of the  being inter alia to secure the security of the State and maintenance of law and order its impact on the fundamental rights was indirect and therefore the Act could not be challenged for breach of the fundamental rights under article 191
The position in the cases now before us is quite different
The last part of the directive principles embodied in article 48 require the State to take steps for prohibiting the slaughter of the specified animals and this directive can only be carried out by prohibiting the petitioners and other butchers Kasais from
slaugh tering them
There can be no mistake about the directness of these legislations vis a vis the petitioners and other butchers and the effect of these legislations on their rights is direct and instantaneous as soon as they are brought into force
The title of the U P Act 1 19511 SCR 451 456 457
656 does not even attempt to conceal the directness of its impact on the butchers of Uttar Pradesh
The argument of learned counsel for the respondents on this point cannot be accepted and the question of the alleged violation of article 191g has to be dealt with on merits
The complaint of the petitioners under article 19 1 g is that the impugned Acts if enforced will compel them at once to close down their business and will in effect amount to a complete denial of their right to carry oil their occupation trade or business in spite of the mandatory provisions of article 191g
The objection is elaborated thus The livelihood of a butcher of cattle depends on the existence of many factors
First he has to purchase the cattle which he will slaughter
The statistics will show that a large number of cattle are slaughtered for food every year
According to Table 11 on p 24 of the Report on the Marketing of Cattle in India 1893000 heads of cattle and 609000 buffaloes were slaughtered in the year 1948
Taking that 7 goats are the equivalent in flesh of cow or buffalo these butchers who slaughter 2502000 bovine cattle will have to find 7 times that number of goats or sheep that is to say they will have to have 17514000 extra goats and sheep per year
This it is said is not available in India
Then the butchers will have to find buyers for this enormous quantity of goats  meat or mutton the price of which according to the figures given at p12 of the Expert Committee   Report is very much higher than that of beef
Poorer people may afford to buy beef occasionally but goat   meat or mutton will be beyond their reach and consequently there will not be a market for sale of the meat of so many goats and sheep and the butchers will have to reduce the number of goats and sheep for purposes of slaughter and that will reduce their income to a negligible figure
Further what will they do with the skins of so many goats and sheep  They will not have ready sale in the market as hides of cows and buffaloes have for the latter are used in the manufacture of boots shoes suit cases belts and other leather goods while the skins of goats and sheep will be useless 657 for such purpose
The same considerations will apply to the guts
There is therefore no escape say learned counsel for the petitioners from the inevitable conclusion that a total ban on the slaughter of all animals belonging to the species of bovine cattle will bring about a total prohibition of the business and occupation of the butchers Kasais
Clause 6 of article 19 no doubt protects the operation of the existing laws in so far as they impose and do not prevent the State from making any law imposing in the interest of the general public reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by article 191g
But restrictions they say cannot extend to total prohibition and reference is made to the observations to be found in some of the decisions of this Court
The contention is that the State may regulate but cannot annihilate a business which a citizen has a right to carry on
The rival contention is thus formulated The dictionary meaning of the word  butcher  is  slaughterer of animals for food dealer in meat
It is one of the three well known occupations included in the homely phrase  the butcher the baker the candlestick maker
The expression  butcher  as popularly understood now has no reference to any particular animal
The term is now applicable to any person who slaughters any animal for food
Taken in this larger sense the facts alleged in the petitions do not according to learned counsel for the respondents indicate that any of the impugned Acts has the effect of completely stopping the petitioners  businesses
They seek to illustrate their point thus Take the case of piece goods merchants
Some may deal in country made piece goods and others may import and sell piece goods manufactured say in England or Japan
Some may deal in dhotis and saris and others may confine their activities to the purchase and sale of long cloth or other varieties of piece goods
They are however all piece goods merchants
Suppose in the interest of our indigenous textile industry and to protect the best interests of the general public it becomes necessary to stop the import of foreign cloth altogether
Such stoppage will not prevent any cloth 658 merchant from carrying on his trade or business as cloth merchant for he can still deal in cloth and piecegoods manufactured in India
Will any piece goods merchant whose business was only to import foreign piece goods for sale in India be heard to complain that the stoppage of import of foreign cloth has completely prevented him from carrying on business as a piece goods merchant and therefore such stoppage of import of foreign cloth being more than a mere restriction violates his fundamental right under article 191g  Where they ask will the argument lead us  Suppose that the import of one particular variety of piece goods say saris is stopped but import of dhotis and all other varieties of piece goods are allowed
On a reasoning at par with that urged in the last case should not a dealer who imports only that variety of piece goods the import of which has been stopped be entitled to say that his business has been completely stopped  Suppose the State in the interest of Khadi and cottage industries imposes a ban on the manufacture or sale of cloth of a very fine count will a merchant who deals only in fine cloth be entitled to say that as he deals only in fine cloth the ban has completely prohibited the carrying on of his business  The truth of the matter they submit is that the ban on the import of foreign cloth or on the manufacture of cloth of very fine count is only a restriction imposed on the piece goods business for the ban affects one or more of the segments of that business but leaves the other segments untouched
There is therefore only some restriction imposed on piece goods merchants in that they cannot deal in certain kinds of piece goods but they are not wholly prevented from carrying on piece goods business
The position they say is the same in the case of butchers Kasais
The butchers  business they point out has several segments and a ban on one segment may be complete prohibition of the activities of that segment for restriction is complete as far as it extends but in the larger context of the butchers  business such a ban they submit operates only as a restriction
Far less it is said can a dealer in hides complain that the ban 659 imposed on the slaughter of cattle and buffaloes prevent him from carrying on his business as a hide merchant for he call still carry on his business in fallen hides
Indeed the statistics collected in the Report of Marketing of Hides in India Second Edition p9 show that the percentage of fallen hides to the total cattle population is 88 whereas the percentage of slaughtered hides to the total cattle population is 14
same argument has been advanced regarding gut merchants and other dealers in subsidiary things
It is not necessary for us to dilate upon or to express any opinion on the rival contentions as abstract pro
positions 
The matter has to be dealt with objectively
What do the Acts actually provide  In Uttar Pradesh the petitioners can freely slaughter buffaloes male or female adults or calves and sell their meat for food
It is also open to them to slaughter goats and sheep and sell the meat
Therefore so far as the butchers of Uttar Pradesh are concerned there A obviously no total prohibition of their occupation but only some restrictions have been imposed on them in respect of one part of their occupation namely the slaughter of cows bulls bullocks and calves of cows
In Madhya Pradesh the Act it is true totally forbids the slaughter of cows including bulls bullocks and cows but permits the slaughter of buffaloes male or female adults or calves under certain conditions
Therefore in Madhya Pradesh also there is no law totally prohibiting the carrying on of the business of a butcher
In Bihar there is no doubt a total ban against the slaughter of all animals belonging to the species of bovine cattle which includes buffaloes male or female adults or calves but it is still possible for the butchers of Bihar to slaughter goats and sheep and sell goats  meat and mutton for food
As will be seen hereafter the total ban on the slaughter of bulls bullocks buffaloes male or female adults or calves irrespective of their age or usefulness is in our view not a reasonable restriction imposed on the butchers Kasais in the interest of the general public and that being therefore void no question can arise even in 660 Bihar of any total prohibition of the rights of butchers to carry on their occupation or business
In this view of the matter we need express no final opinion on the vexed question as to whether restrictions permissible under cl
6 of article 19 may extend to total prohibition
That question was left open by this court in Saghir Ahmed vs The State O U P and others 1 and in The State of Bombay vs R M D Chamarbaugwala 2 and in the view we have taken on the facts and construction of the several Acts under consideration does not call for an answer in disposing of these petitions
The question that calls for an answer from us is whether these restrictions are reasonable in the interests of the general public
Clause 6 of article 19 protects a law which imposes in the interest of the general public reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by sub cl
g of cl
1 of article 19
Quite obviously it is left to the court in case of dispute to determine the reasonableness of the restrictions imposed by the law
In determining that question the court we conceive cannot proceed on a general notion of what is reasonable in the abstract or even on a consideration of what is reasonable from the point of view of the person or persons on whom the restrictions are imposed
The right conferred by sub cl
g is expressed in general language and if there had been no qualifying provision like el
6 the right so conferred would have been an absolute one
To the person who has this right any restriction will be irksome and may well be regarded by him as unreasonable
But the question cannot be decided on that basis
What the court has to do is to consider whether the restrictions imposed are reasonable in the interests of the general public
In the State of Madras vs V 0
Row 3 this court has laid down the test of reasonableness in the following terms  It is important in this context to bear in mind that the test of reasonableness wherever prescribed should be applied to each individual statute impugned  1   724
2  3   607 661 and no abstract standard or general pattern of reason ableness can be laid down as applicable to all cases
The nature of the right alleged to have been infringed the underlying purpose of the restrictions imposed the extent and urgency of the evil sought to be remedied thereby the disproportion of the imposition the prevailing conditions at the time should all enter into the judicial verdict
In evaluating such elusive factors and forming their own conception of what is reasonable in all the circumstances of a given case it is inevitable that the social philosophy and the scale of values of the judges participating in the decision should play an important part and the limit to their interference with legislative judgment in such cases can only be dictated by their sense of responsibility and self restraint and the sobering reflection that the Constitution is meant not only for people of their way of thinking but for all and that the majority of the elected representatives of the people have in authorising the imposition of the restrictions considered them to be reasonable These observations have been adopted by this Court in later cases e g The State of West Bengal vs Subodh Gopal Bose 1 and Ebrahim Vazir Mavat vs The State of Bombay 2
In this connection it will also be well to remember the observation of Mahajan J in The State of Bihar vs Maharajadhiraj Sir Kameshwar Singh of Dharbangha 3 namely that  the legislature is the best judge of what is good for the community by whose suffrage it comes into existence 
This should be the proper approach for the court but the ultimate responsibility for determining the validity of the law must rest with the court and the court must not shirk that solemn duty cast on it by the Constitution
We have therefore to approach the problem now before us in the light of the principles laid down by this Court
The avowed object of each of the impugned Acts is to ensure the preservation protection and improvement of the cow and her progeny
This solicitude 1 1954 SCR 587 627
2   949 950 3  041 662 arises out of the appreciation of the usefulness of cattle in a predominantly agricultural society
Early Aryans recognised its importance as one of the most indispensable adjuncts of agriculture
It would appear that in Vedic times animal flesh formed the staple food of the people
This is attributable to the fact that the climate in that distant past was extremely cold and the Vedic Aryans had been a pastoral people before they settled down as agriculturists
In Rg
Vedic times goats sheep cows buffaloes and even horses were slaughtered for food and for religious sacrifice and their flesh used to be offered to the Gods
Agni is called the  eater of ox or cow  in Rg
Veda VIII
43 11
The staying of a great ox Mahoksa or a  great Goat  Mahaja for the entertainment of a distinguished guest has been enjoined in the Satapatha Brahmana 111
4 1 2
Yagnavalkya also expresses similar view Vaj 1 109
An interesting account of those early days will be found in Rg
Vedic Culture by Dr A C Das Ch 5 pp
203 5 and in the History of Dharmasastras Vol
II  Part II by P V Kane at pp
772 773
Though the custom of slaughtering of cows and bulls prevailed during the Vedic period nevertheless even in the Rg
Vedic times there seems to have grown up a revulsion of feeling against the custom
The cow gradually came to acquire a special Sanctity and was called  Aghnya  not to be slain
There was a school of thinkers amongst the Rsis who set their face against the custom of killing such useful animals as the cow and the bull
High praise was bestowed on the cow as will appear from the following verses from Rg
Veda Book VI Hymn XXVIII Cows attributed to the authorship of Sage Bhardvaja  1
The kine have come and brought good fortune lot them rest in the cow pen and be happy near US
Here let them stay prolific many coloured and yield through many morns their milk for Indra
O cows ye fatten e en the worn and wasted and make the unlovely beautiful to look on
Prosper my house ye with auspicious voices your power is glorified in our assemblies
663 7
Crop goodly pasturages and be prolific drink pure sweet water at good drinking places
Never be thief or sinful man your master and may the dart of Rudra still avoid you
Translation by Ralph Griffith
Verse 29 of Hymn 1 in Book Xof Atharva Veda forbids cow slaughter in the following words  29
The slaughter of an innocent O Kritya is an awful deed Slay not cow horse or man of ours
 Hymn 10 in the same Book is a rapturous glorification of the cow  30
The cow is Heaven the cow is Earth the cow is Vishnu Lord of life The Sadhyas and the Vasus have drunk the outpourings of the cow
Both Gods and mortal men depend for life and being on the cow
She hath become this universe all that the sun surveys is she
 PV Kane argue that in the times of  the Rg
Veda only barren cowsif at all were killed for sacrifice or meat and cows yielding milk were held to be not fit for being killed
It is only in this way according to him that one can explain and reconcile the apparent conflict between the custom of killing COWS for food and the high praise bestowed oil the cow in Rg
Vedic times
It would appear that the protest raised against the slaughter of cows greatly increased in volume till the custom was totally abolished in a later age
The change of climate perhaps also make the use of beef food unnecessary and even injurious to health
Gradually cows became indicative of the wealth of the owner
The Neolithic Aryans not having been acquainted with metals there were no coins in current use in the earlier stages of their civilisation but as they were eminently a pastoral people almost every family possessed a sufficient number of cattle and some of them exchanged them for the necessaries of their life
The value of cattle Pasuwas therefore very great with the early Rg
Vedic Aryans
The ancient Romans also used the word pecus or pecu pasu in the sense of wealth or money
The English words 664  Pecuniary  and  impecunious  are derived from the Latin root pecus or pecu originally meaning cattle
The possession of cattle in those days denoted wealth and a man was considered rich or poor according to the large or small number of cattle that he owned
In the Ramayana King Janaka s wealth was described by reference to the large number of herds that he owned
It appears that the cow was gradually raised to the status of divinity
Kautilya s Arthasastra has a special chapter Ch
XXIX dealing with the superintendent of cows and the duties of the owner of cows are also referred to in Ch
XI of Hindu Law in its sources by Ganga Nath Jha
There can be no gainsaying the fact that the Hindus in general hold the cow in great reverence and the idea of the slaughter of cows for food is repugnant to their notions and this sentiment has in the past even led to communal riots
It is also a fact that after the recent partition of the country this agitation against the slaughter of cows has been further intensified
While we agree that the constitutional question before us cannot be decided on grounds of mere sentiment however passion ate it may be we nevertheless think that it has to be taken into consideration though only as one of many elements in arriving at a judicial verdict as to the reasonableness of the restrictions
Cattle in India it is said has a treble role to play namely i to produce milk for food ii bulls for draught and iii manure for agriculture
It is necessary to advert to the arguments advanced under each head
According to the 1951 census there were 156000000 heads of cattle and 40000000 of buffaloes making a total of 196000000 or roughly 200000000 of animals belonging to the species of bovine cattle
In India there are 123 heads of cattle including buffaloes per square mile and 43 heads to every 100 persons
Out of the total cattle population of 156000000 and buffalo population of 40000000 there were in Bihar 15297000 cattle and 3316000 buffaloes in Madhya Pradesh 14858000 heads of cattle and 2600000 buffaloes and in Uttar Pradesh 23513000 heads of cattle and 9250000 buffaloes
665 The total distribution of cattle and buffaloes according to age sex and work was as follows Males Cattle Buffaloes Breeding bulls 652000306000 Working bullocks 588180006036000 Bulls and bullocks over three years not in use for breed ing and work i e useless
2735000466000 Young stock under once year
9763000 2870000 Young stock one to three years of age
12257000 2384000 Total 84225000 12002000 Females Breeding cows ie cows over 3 years kept for breeding or milk production
46723000 21008000 Cows over 3 years used for work
2317000 534000 Cows over 3 years not in use for work or breeding purposes i e useless
1202000315000 Young stock over 1 year
93050004202000 Young stock 1 to 3 years of age
125440005283000 Total 72091000 31342000 Grand total 156316000 43344000 As stated in the Report on the Marketing of Cattle in India issued by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection Ministry of Food and Agriculture Government of India 1956 the proportion of males in cattle is a little more than half of the total cattle population whilst in the case of buffaloes females predominate and are about 34 of the total
For agricultural purposes male cattle are generally preferred for their comparative lightness and active nature
Of the total 3957000 unserviceable heads of cattle in India there were 535000 in Bihar 155000 in Madhya Pradesh and 184000 in Uttar Pradesh
Of the total 781000 666 unserviceable buffaloes there were 120000 in Bihar 15000 in Madhya Pradesh and 28000 in Uttar Pradesh
Although according to the census figures given above our cattle wealth is in number the highest in the world the milk production is perhaps the lowest
According to the figures given in the Second Five Year Plan at the beginning of the First Five Year Plan the milk output was over 18000000 ton
The average yield of milk per cow in India was 413 pounds which is about the lowest of any country in the world as against 8000 pounds in the Netherlands 7000 pounds in Australia 6000 pounds in Sweden and 5000 pounds in the USA Out of the total yield she buffaloes give 54 while cows give only 42
Buffalo milk is richer in fat 6 to 7 as compared to 45 of fat in the cow s milk
But cows milk is richer in other important content
 and is more easily digestible
The average per capita consumption of milk and milk products was worked out by the First Five Year Plan at 55 ounces ie about 25 chhataks or 16 of a seer per day though 10 ounces are recommended by nutrition experts
In the Facts and Figures about Bihar published in 1955 by the Department of Public Relations the average annual
milk yield is stated to be 620 lbs
per cow and 1526 lbs
per buffalo
It is recognised in Human Nutrition vis a vis Animal Nutrition in India a Memorandum prepared by the Nutrition Advisory Committee of the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Animal Committee of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research that the performance of Indian much animals particularly of cows is extremely poor and that from a more economic point of view there does not seem to be any justification for maintaining animals yielding 2 pounds of milk or less per day and perhaps these animals would better be eliminated
But as the Memorandum also says one should realise before such a drastic action is taken the consequences that may follow from the adoption of this policy for if the animals giving 2 pounds or less of milk are condemned as unsuitable it will mean elimination of more than 90 of the present day much cows and loss of about 7000000 tons out of 9700000 tons of annual 667 gross production of milk from this group besides a large number of bullocks that they will bear
According to the table of the human food requirement recommended by the Nutrition Advisory Committee of the Indian Council of Medical Research 10 ounces of milk per adult unit per day is necessary to make tip a balanced diet
The total human population according to 1951 census was 356800000 which at the current rate of increase was estimated to have reached the figure of 377600000 in 1956
Treating children below 10 years of age as 083 of adult value the total adult unit is calculated at 313000000
At the rate of 10 ounces of milk per adult per day we Would require 32300000 tons of milk per annum
It is clear therefore that in India where a large section of tile population consists of vegetarians there is a huge shortage in the supply of milk
Cows and other milch cattle therefore are of very great value to this country
If milk yielding capacity were the only consideration the comparatively smaller number of female buffaloes which produce 54 of the total milk supply of our country would obviously have deserved a far greater preference over the cows in our estimation
But as pointed out by Pandit Thakurdas Bhargava there is another important consideration which is perhaps more important from the standpoint of human food supply
It is the bullock that takes the largest share in meeting the power requirements for our agricultural production
Based perhaps on age old experience Indian agriculturists habitually prefer a cow bullock to a buffalo bullock
As a result of the evolutionary process of trial and error we find in this country about 10 cow bullocks for every buffalo bullock as is shown by the 1951 census figures set out above
If this relative distribution is considered unavoidable for our crop production we may expect no change in the existing ratio in the population of the two species unless a revolution can be brought about in our methods and practice of land cultivation
According to the Report on the Marketing of Cattle in India 1956 p 22 animals are utilised in India under four heads1 used for cultivating65422000 2 used 85 668 for carting in urban areas 1180000 3 used as pack animals 67705 and 4 used in oil crushers etc430000 making up the total of 67099705
As against this we have according to the 1951 census figures set out above 58818000 working bullocks and 6036000 working he buffaloes aggregating to 64854000
There is therefore a shortage of 2245705 bullocks including buffaloes which presumably represent the dry cows and female buffaloes put to agricultural labour as shown in the Second Five Year Plan at pp
281 282
It is true that tractors have begun to be used but they are still of a negligible number and for many years to come the country will have to depend upon animal power for her agricultural operations in order to grow enough food for meeting the demands of the fast growing human population
In Uttar Pradesh according to the 1951 census there were 23512839 heads of cattle and 9250488 buffaloes making a total of 32763327
The total area of Uttar Pradesh was 72278809 acres out of which 49230120 acres were under cultivation
If a pair of bullocks can be taken on an average to cover 10 acres the total area under cultivation will require 9846000 bullocks
The 1951 census figures show 11500000 of bullocks which are slightly in excess of the number of bullocks required for the purposes of cultivation only
Indeed both in Uttar Pradesh and in Bihar according to the First Five Year Plan p 247 there was a surplus of about 4000000 of bullocks while in the Punjab and Pepsu the number available was just adequate to meet the demands
If however account is taken of the other purposes for which bullocks may be used namely for carting or as pack animals or for working oil crushers or drawing water from the wells for irrigation purposes the total available animal power will fall short of the requirements
In addition to that we have to keep in view the necessity for further expansion of the cultivated area to meet the food requirements of the fast growing population and in that case the deficit will go up still further
In Bihar according to the Facts and Figures 1956 the total number of animal population of the bovine species were 669 Cattle Cows and oxen adults 11564310 Cows and oxen young stock 3733166 Buffaloes adult 2378293 Buffaloes young stock 937582 The number of working cattle andbuffaloes works out to one for every 6 acres of net area under cultivation
It follows therefore that our working animals are perhaps just about sufficient to supply the power to keep our agricultural operations up to the necessary standard but the demand for food is growing and more lands will have to be brought under cultivation and we shall require a far large number of these animals
There are in India 650000 breeding bulls and 310000 breeding buffaloes
There are 46340000 breeding cows and 20990000 breeding buffaloes
According to the First Five Year Plan 1
274 approximately 750 farm bred bulls of known pedigree are distributed annually by the Government in different States for developing and improving the draught as well as the milch breeds
Besides there are some approved bulls belonging to private owners
But the existing number of private bulls meets less than 0
15 of the total requirements of the country
According to the Report on the Marketing of Cattle in India p 9 service bulls number approximately 652000 or about 04 of the total cattle in the country
In the absence of an arrangement to castrate or remove the inferior bulls before a pedigree bull is located in an area the progeny of the pedigree bulls have access to scrub which nullifies the efficiency achieved in the first generation
It is therefore clear that the breeding bulls cattle and buffaloes are insufficient to meet the requirements
It is true that the practice of artificial insemination has been introduced in some centres but for many years to come Indian animal husbandry will have to depend on the ordinary breeding bulls
We are in short supply of them
The third utility of these animals cattle and buffaloes is the dung
The First Five Year Plan at p 255 670 records that 800000000 tons of dung are available per annum
50 of this is used as fuel by cultivators and the other 50 is used as manure
If suitable supplies of fuel could be made available to the cultivators then the entire quantity of dung could be used for manure
It is doubtful however if the cultivators would be in a position to pay for the fuel and utilise the entirety of the dung for manure
Cattle urine is also useful for the nitrogen phosphates and potash contents in it
In terms of money the dung and the urine will account for a large portion of the agricultural income in India
Indeed Pandit Thakurdas Bhargava appearing as amnicus curiae has claimed Rs 630000000 per year as the contribution of the dung of these animals to the national income
The discussion in the foregoing paragraphs clearly establishes the usefulness of the cow and her progeny
They sustain the health of the nation by giving them the life giving milk which is so essential an item in a scientifically balanced diet
The working bullocks are indispensable for our agriculture for they supply power more than any other animal
Good breeding bulls are necessary to improve the breed so that the quality and stamina of the future cows and working bullocks may increase and the production of food and milk may improve and be in abundance
The dung of the animal is cheaper than the artificial manures and is extremely useful
In short the backbone of Indian agriculture is in a manner of speaking the cow and her progeny
Indeed Lord Linlithgow has truly said  The cow and the working bullock have on their patient back the whole structure of Indian agriculture  Report on the Marketing of Cattle in India p 20
If therefore we are to attain sufficiency in the production of food if we are to maintain the nation s health the efficiency and breed of our Cattle population must be considerably improved
To attain the above objectives we must devote greater attention to the preservation protection and improvement of the stock and organise our agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines
We have therefore to examine the provisions of the impugned Acts and 671 ascertain whether they help in achieving the said objectives or are calculated to hinder that process
In that context all the considerations above alluded to must enter the judicial verdict and if the impugned Acts further the aforesaid purpose then only can the restrictions imposed by the impugned Acts be said to be reasonable in the interest of the general public
We turn now to the other side of the picture
In examining the conspectus of the problem the Court cannot overlook the fact emphasised in the petition that the petitioners and a very large number of similarly situated persons even if their number does not come up to the figure mentioned in the petition are butchers Kasais by occupation and make an income of about Rs 150 to Rs 200 per month and that they will be seriously affected if not completely thrown out of occupation by the impugned Acts
It is true for reasons hereinbefore stated that they cannot complain that they have been completely deprived of their occupation or business but the enactments if valid will compel them to make fresh arrangements for the supply of animals which are permitted to be slaughtered for food
Theoretically it may not be impossible for them to do so but in practice it is more than likely to cause considerable inconvenience to them and may even involve extra expenses for them
The hide merchants who they say in the petition have made their arrangements for the supply to them of hides of slaughtered animals up to 95  of their requirements may find it difficult to make fresh arrangements for procuring fallen hides
The same observations may be made about the gut merchants
The immediate effect of the operation of these Acts is to cause a serious dislocation of the petitioners  business without any compensatory benefit
In Saghir Ahmad vs The State of U P 1 at p 727 this Court observed with respect to the persons engaged in running buses for carrying passengers  One thing however in our opinion has a decided hearing on the question of reasonableness and that is the immediate effect which the legislation is likely to 11955 1 SCR 707724
672 produce
Hundreds of citizens are earning their livelihood by carrying on this business on various routes within the State of Uttar Pradesh
Although they carry on the business only with the aid of permits which are granted to them by the authorities under the Motor Vehicles Act no compensation has been allowed to them under the Statute
 Similar inconvenience may easily be supposed to have befallen the petitioners and others of their class and the immediate and possibly adverse impact of the impugned Acts on their occupation or business must therefore be taken into account as one Of the important factors in judging the reasonableness or otherwise of the said Acts
There is also no getting away from the fact that beef or buffalo meat is an item of food for a large section of the people in India and in particular of the State of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
Table 11 at p 24 of the Report on the Marketing of Cattle in India shows that in the year 1948 the annual demand for cattle and buffaloes for purposes of food was 1893000 heads of cattle and 609000 buffaloes
These figures indicate that beef and buffalo flesh are used for food by a large section of the people in India
It is wellknown that poorer sections of Muslims Christians and members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes consume beef and buffalo flesh
There is also a limited demand for beef by the foreign population
Buffaloes yield comparatively coarse and tough meat of inferior quality and consequently the demand for beef is greater than that for buffalo flesh
Further the price of the buffalo flesh is 20 to 40 less than that of beef
The prices of beef and buffalo meat are much cheaper than that of mutton or goat s meat and consequently beef and buffalo flesh come within the reach of the poorer people perhaps for a day or two in the week
According to the figures given in the Report of the Expert Committee at 1
12 in 1938 in Bombay the prices were Rs 0 3 9 per pound of beef Rs 0 2 0 per pound of buffalo flesh and Rs 0 5 6 for mutton and goats  flesh
In 1950 these prices went up respectively to Rs 0 12 0 Rs 0 11 0 and Rs 1 3 0
673 The comparatively low prices of beef and buffalo flesh which are nearly half of that of mutton or goats  flesh is the main reason for their demand
Habit is perhaps secondary
Learned counsel for some of the petitioners cited the case of the boys and girls residing in boarding houses attached to the Anglo Indian schools where the only meat which the boarding school authorities can afford to supply as part of the diet of the growing children is beef and that only on a day or two in the week
The Acts if enforced will prevent them
from having even this little bit of nourishment and amenity
It is true that after the partition of the country the Muslim population has decreased and further that some Muslims may not habitually take beef or buffalo flesh but even so a large section of the poorer people belonging to the Muslim Christian and Scheduled Castes communities do consume beef and buffalo flesh
And this is not merely a matter of amenity or luxury but is at any rate partially  a matter of necessity
Table VII set out at p 32 of the Memorandum on Human Nutrition vis a vis Animal Nutrition in India recommends one ounce of meat daily whereas the available quantity is much less and the attainable quantity under the new plan may be 13 ounce or a little more
Poorer people therefore who can hardly afford fruit or milk or ghee are likely to suffer from malnutrition if they are deprived of even one out ice of beef or buffalo flesh which may sometimes be within their reach
This aspect of the matter must also be taken into account in assessing the reasonableness of the provisions of the impugned Acts
The number of cattle and buffaloes not fit for breeding or working has already been set out
Further particulars in detail are available from Appendices II and III to the Report on the Marketing of Cattle in India
The figures given there show that according to the 1951 census the total number of unserviceable male cattle was 2735000 and that of female cattle was 1202000
Out of these there were in Bihar 293000 male and242000 female in Madhya Pradesh 124000 male and31000 female and in Uttar Pradesh 674 163000 male and 21000 female
The unserviceable buffaloes in the whole of India according to 1951 census were 781000 out of which 466000 were males and 315000 were females
Out of the total there were in Bihar 61000 male buffaloes and 59000 female buffaloes in Madhya Pradesh 10000 male and 5000 female in Uttar Pradesh 16000 male and 12000 female
According to the First Five Year Plan p 273 the overall estimates made by the Cattle Utilisation Committee show that about 10  of the cattle population in India or roughly 11400000 adults were unserviceable or unproductive
The Report of the Cattle Preservation and Development Committee also put the figure of old decrepit and unproductive cattle at 10 of the total population
Pandit Thakurdas Bhargava does not accept the correctness of these figures
It is difficult to find one s way out of the labyrinth of figures and it will be futile for us to attempt to come to a figure of unserviceable agricultural animals which may even be approximately correct
For our purpose it will suffice to say that there is a fairly large number of cattle and buffaloes which are not of any use for breeding or working purposes
The position may be accepted as correctly summed up at p 274 of the First Five Year Plan where it is stated inter alia that there is a deficiency of good milch cows and working bullocks and that there exists a surplus of useless or inefficient animals
The presence of a large number of useless and inefficient cattle in the midst of the good ones affect our agricultural economy in two ways
In the first place and this is the crux of the matter this surplus stock is pressing upon the scanty fodder and feed resources of the country and is an obstacle to making good the deficit
As pointed out by the expert Committee Report at p 59 the greatest handicap in improving our cattle wealth is the lack of resources in feeding them
Any effort to improve cattle will fail unless they are properly fed
The table set out on that very page of that Report records a deficiency of 60000000 tons i e 33 in straw or Kadbi 104000000 tons ie 13 in green fodder and 26520000 tons i e 675 70 in concentrates i e oil cakes bran oil seeds maize  barley and gram etc
It is pointed out that the figures shown against green fodder are not the quantities which are presently available but which can be made available if forest  resources are fully tapped
According to this Report even if the forest resources are fully utilised there will still be a deficiency of 13 in the supply
The actual availability of this item is limited by the fact that green fodder is only available during the monsoon months and much of this is wasted by the lack of country wide arrangements for its conservation
The estimated requirements and the present supply of food stuffs for animals is also given in Table V at p 23 of the Memorandum on Human Nutrition vis a vis Animal Nutrition in India which tallies with and is more or less about the same as those given in the Report of the Expert Committee above referred to
Table V also shows a deficiency of 60000000 tons of straw or Kadbi 17800000 tons of green fodder
The shortage of concentrates i e oil cakes maize barley gram cotton seed and bran vary between 850000 to 7117000 tons
According to the estimate given in the First Five Year Plan at p 273 the quantity of fodder available is about 75 of requirements while available concentrates of feeds would suffice only for about 28  of 1 the cattle
The figures given at p 24 of the report of the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee set up by the Uttar Pradesh Government are interesting
The total cattle and buffalo population in Uttar Pradesh is estimated at 32763327
The scientific food requirements of this total population according to the Western standard are first set out
Then begins a process of scaling down for the above scale is considered to be somewhat lavish for our low sized village cattle
The Indian standard according to this report will require much less and the figures according to Indian standards are next set out
Evidently these figures also show a very big gap between requirements and the available quantities
So the report says that event this may be reduced and what is significantly 86 676 described as the  critical limit  is then set out
It is not quite intelligible why an Indian cow should not require even an Indian standard of ration
Be that as it may even for the  critical limit  the quantity available is far too short
The gap between the critical limit and what is available is respectively 18000000 tons of dry matter 1500000 tons of protein and 28617000000 therms
It is conceded that the requirements of mixed population of 32763327 heads of animals may be taken as representing 27130000 adult units and with the present available supply of straw green feed and concentrates these adult units cannot be fully fed even on the critical limit standard
The available supply can support only 15920000 adult units leaving 1 1 2 1 0000 units unfed
It is recognised by this Report that with an increase in cattle population and better prophylactic treatment against contagious diseases the trend of population will be towards an increase and the deficiency in nutrition will become still more pronounced
The remedy suggested is that attention be paid urgently towards the production of more fodder from cultivated land and utilisation of all marginal and sub marginal land for augmenting food and fodder sources
With a large population of animals in which the majority is not yielding adequate and prompt returns to the owners the animals are naturally allowed to fenad for themselves and to subsist on whatever the agriculturist is able to provide from his scanty sources for the maintenance of his stock
Naturally therefore the problem of substantial precentage of uneconomical cattle has cropped up along with that of stray wild old diseased and uneconomical animals
These old and useless animals roaming about at pleasure in search of food are a nuisance and a source of danger in the countryside
They grow wild and become a menace to the crop production
As pointed out by the Report of the Expert Committee the danger was actually seen by the members of that Committee in Pepsu where it is significant to note the slaughter is banned completely
677 The presence of a large number of old and useless animals also has a bad effect on the quality of the breed
There is a tendency for this population to multiply and bring into being progeny of a very inferior kind which is bound to adversely affect the production of milk or bullock power
It is absolutely necessary that this surplus cattle should be separated from the good and robust animals and a total ban on slaughter of cattle and buffaloes will contribute towards worsening the present condition
The Cattle Preservation and Development Committee set up by the Government of India in 1948 at p 47 of its Report recommended as a panacea for the evil menace of useless cattle a scheme for the establishment of cattle concentration camp for the old and useless cattle
It is this scheme which subsequently came to be known by the name of Gosadans
At pp
48 and 49 are set out the estimates of cost of establishing and running a camp to house 2000 cattle
The non recurring cost on land cattle sheds staff and servants  quarters is shown at Rs 32000 and the recurring cost namely salary of manager stock man chaukidars
and others on the establishment together with allowances is shown at Rs 13000 per year and it is hoped that a sum of Rs 5000 will be derived from the sale of hides manure etc
According to the Report of the Expert Committee each Gosadhan housing 2000 heads of cattle would have to have 4000 acres of land which would permit of a rotational and controlled grazing practice and provision has to be made for the surplus grass during the rainy season to be preserved for the scarcity months
There should be thatched sheds for protection of the cattle against weather and wild animals and fodder is to be cultivated on a small part of the 4000 acres
By the end of 1954 when the Report of the Expert Committee came to be made the cost had gone up from what they were in 1948 when the Cattle Preservation and Development Committee Report had been made
The estimated cost according to the Report of the Expert Committee of establishing and running of a Gosadan for 2000 heads of cattle is shown as nonrecurring 678 Rs 50000 and recurring Rs 25000 per year
On this basis the recurring cost alone will work out at Rs 1250 per head of cattle per annum for preserving useless cattle
The figures given in the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee s Report are interesting
Taking the total number of cattle in Uttar Pradesh not used for breeding or work at 183276 in 1951 the State will require 91 Gosadans each with a housing capacity for 2000 heads of cattle
Even taking one acre per animal instead of two acres per animal as recommended by the Expert Committee Report 91 Gosadans will require nearly 200000 acres of land
The cost of 91 Gosadans will be non recurring Rs 4550000 and recurring Rs 2275000 per annum
It appears from the revised model for Gosadans for 500 heads of cattle to be run by the State Governments set out in Appendix II to the Proceedings of the Fifth Annual General Meeting of the Central Council of Gosamvardhan held at Now Delhi on February 21 1957 that the non recurring cost will be Rs 39000 and the recurring running cost will be Rs 12000
It is estimated that there will be an income of Rs 2500 from the sale of hides etc
Allowing this the net annual recurring cost will be Rs 9500 for 500 heads of cattle which works out at Rs 19 per head of cattle per annum
As regards Gosadans to be run by private institutions it is said in the same Appendix II that those institutions will be given a subsidy of Rs 18 per head per annum out of which 75 would be contributed by the Centre and the remaining 25 by the State
Thus for the preservation of the useless cattle the country will pay Rs 19 or Rs 18 per head of such useless cattle per annum whereas our total national expenditure on education Central and States including local bodies in 1955 1956 was only Rs 4 9 per capita as against Rs 1046 per capita in the United Kingdom and Rs 2237 per capita in the United States of America and our target for 1957 1958 works out at Rs 5 per capita per annum
It will be noticed that in none of the schemes is even a pice provided for fodder
The idea evidently is that the cattle will be left there to fend for themselves on whatever grass or 679 other green feed they can get by grazing
If one remembers that though green fodder may be available in the monsoon months there will be a dearth of them in the dry months one will at once see that the segregating of the cattle in the concentration camp will only be to leave them to a fate of slow death
The very idea that these animals should eke out their livelihood by grazing and that Gosadans should be located in out of the way places appeared to the authors of the Memorandum on Human Nutrition vis a vis Animal Nutrition at p 47 to belie the humanitarian considerations on the basis of which the scheme was conceived
Theory apart the Gosadan scheme has been tried and the result is not at all encouraging
The First Five Year Plan obviously as an experimental measure provided for the establishment of 160 Gosadans each housing 2000 heads of cattle at a cost of about Rs 9700000
The Planning Commission recognised that these measures would touch only the fringe of the problem and the success of the movement would depend on the amount of public support especially from charitable institutions that it received
The sheer weight of the figures of expenses compelled the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee to recognise that if the unwanted and uneconomic cows and their progeny have to be effectively saved from slaughter the responsibility had to be shared by the individual the community and so on for it would be utterly impracticable to expect that the burden of collection of such animals from villages and transporting them to the Gosadans would be within the exclusive means and competence of the State
That Committee certainly expected the State to share a particular portion of the expenditure which legitimately fell in its sphere of responsibility but the Committee felt and said so in so many words that by far the most substantial portion of the responsibility should rest on the owners and the community itself for it was but equitable to expect that if the cow had to be really saved from slaughter the cost on this account should be equitably borne by the people and the State
This 680 part of the Report of the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee reads like wishful thinking and amounts to only hoping for the best
When the conscience of the individual or the community did not prevent the Hindu owner from selling his dry cow to the butcher for a paltry sum of Rs 30 to Rs 40 per head when the Hindu sentiment for the divinity and sanctity attributed to the cow has to be propped up by legislative compulsion when according to its own Report at p 41 the Dharmada and Brit collected by the Hindu busi nessmen on each commercial transaction ostensibly for the benefit of the cow is not made available in full and finally when Goshalas have had to be closed down for want of funds and public support when the country cannot spend more than Rs 5 per capita per annum on the education of the people it seems to be somewhat illogical and extravagant bordering on incongruity to frame a scheme for establishment of Gosadans for preserving useless cattle at a cost of Rs 19 or Rs 18 per head per annum and which will for its success admittedly have to depend on the same elusive and illusory public support or 75 subsidy from the Central Government
What has been the result of the experiment According to the Report of the Expert Committee since the First Five Year Plan only 17 Gosadans had been started in Bihar Uttar Pradesh Pepsu Coorg Bhopal Kutch Vindhya Pradesh Tripura and Saurashtra put together
Not even one of these 17 establishments is fully stocked
There are only about 5293 animals in these 17 Gosadans instead of 34000
According to the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee s Report only two Gosadans had been established up to the date of that Report in Uttar Pradesh
The Second Five Year Plan p 283 shows that out of the 160 Gosadans for which provision had been made in the First Five Year Plan only 22 Gosadans had been established
According to the Facts and Figures about Bihar 1955 p 88 three Gosadans had been established at Berwadih Nirmali and Monghyr where there were about 700 uneconomic animals at that time instead of 6000 which should have been there as per the estimated capacity for each Gosadan
681 What in the view of the several committees is the conclusion  According to the Memorandum on Human Nutrition Vis a vis Animal Nutrition in India p 4 the present scheme of establishing Gosadans for segregating old and useless animals can serve only a limited purpose and if extended countrywide it is likely to hinder rather than help the problem of disposing of the surplus animals
At p 47 the authors of this Memorandum appear to have felt that in advocating the adoption of Gosadan Scheme on a countrywide basis sufficient consideration had not been given to its practical aspects
It is pointed out that according to the present estimate the total number of useless animals is four times the number the Second Five Year Plan had estimated and that consequently having regard to the huge size of our cattle population the existing number of the useless section would remain unchanged for many years to come and that a sum of Rs 30400000 will be required only for pounding such animals
The Expert Committee s Report is quite definite and emphatic
Paragraph 133 of that Report at P 62 clearly expresses the opinion that Gosadans do not offer a solution to the problem
To house and maintain all these animals thousands of Gosadans on lakhs of acres of land would be needed
In addition to the huge nonrecurring expenses a very high recurring annual expenditure would have to be incurred
 In view of this and in view of the indifferent response from the States in setting up Gosadans the Expert Committee came to the conclusion that the Gosadan scheme was not likely to offer any solution for the problem of useless cattle and that it would be far more desirable to utilise the limited resources of the country to increase the efficiency of the useful cattle
The Report of the Cattle Preservation and Development Committee did not recommend the immediate total ban on the slaughter of all cattle
They recommended the establishment of concentration camps later on euphemistically called Gosadans and though total ban was the ultimate objective it did not for the moment prohibit the slaughter of animals over the age of 14 years and of animals of any age 682 permanently unfit for work or breeding owing to age or deformity
In para
134 of the Expert Committee s Report at p 63 it is stated clearly that the total ban on the slaughter of all cattle would not be in the best interests of the country as it is merely a negative and not a positive approach to the problem
They consider that a constructive approach to the problem will be to see that no useful animal is slaughtered and that the country section resources are fully harnessed to produce better and more efficient cattle
Neither the First Five Year Plan nor the Second Five Year Plan accepted the idea of a total ban on the slaughter of cattle
Indeed according to the Second Five Year Plan a total ban will help the tendency for the number of surplus cattle to increase and in their view a total ban on the slaughter of all cows calves and other milch and draught cattle will defeat the very object of the directive principles embodied in article 48 of the Constitution
We find from para
6 on p 283 of the Second Five Year Plan that the Gosadan scheme did not make any real or satisfactory progress and that altogether 22 Gosadans housing only 8000 cattle had been established by the States up to the date of that document and even then many of the States had encountered difficulty in securing the areas of land needed for their operations
The Planning Commission considered that it would be impossible to establish enough of these Gosadans and they reached the conclusion that in defining the scope
of the ban on the slaughter of cattle the States should take a realistic view of the fodder resources available in the country
and the extent to which they can get the
co operation of voluntary organisations to bear the main responsibility for maintaining unserviceable and unproductive cattle with a measure of assistance from the Goverment land general support from the people
 As already stated  the Memorandum on Human Nutrition vis a vis Animal
Nutrition at p 4 expressed the view that the Gosadan scheme can serve only a limited purpose and if extended countrywide was likely to hinder rather than help the problem of disposing of the surplus animals appart From the huge initial cost
A large concentration of 683 useless animals within a restricted area the authors of that Memorandum feared might lead to considerable soil erosion due to overgrazing and there might be every possibility of contagious and parasitic diseases spreading from these animals to the surrounding area
It is only the Gosamvardan Enquiry Committee which had recommended an immediate total ban on the slaughter of all cattle irrespective of age or sex
It should however be noted that even that Committee did not recommend such a total ban as a measure independent of all other considerations
Its recommendation in this behalf was linked up with and was a part of a scheme which depended for its success on a variety of imponderable matters like public enthusiasm and support for the establishment and maintenance of Gosadans in a high state of working efficiency the capacity of the State to bring more lands under cultivation reclamation of the jungle lands and the like
It may be noted also that although in some of the States total ban has been imposed on the slaughter of cattle many of the States have not con sidered it necessary to impose such a blanket ban
Thus the Assam Cattle Protection Act 1950 the Bombay Animal Preservation Act 1948 the West Bengal Animal Slaughter Control Act 1950 the Hyderabad Slaughter of Animal Act 1950 the Travancore Cochin Notification permit slaughter of cattle and buffaloes over specified years of age
Even the Madhya Pradesh Act as criminally enacted did not place a total ban on the slaughter of all cattle
In earlier times there being enough of pastures and smaller human and cattle population and restricted needs it was possible to rear large and valuable herds and organise a system of balanced economy as far as agricultural development was concerned
Thus while the country was producing enough grain for the requirement of the human population there was an adequate area available for plentiful grazing of animals which supplemented by fodder available from agricultural production assisted in developing the types of quality animals required for the needs of the 87 384 times and the area in question Report of the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee
The position has considerably changed since then
There has been a large increase in human population and famines and epidemics having been largely brought under control there has been an increase in the animal population also
Already there is a competition between man and the animal for the available land
The growing human population needs more food for which more land is required
The refugee problem has yet to be solved and sufficient land has to be found for settling the refugees therein
With organised facilities for artificial fertilisers and the introduction of scientific methods of cultivation agricultural production is expected to increase and the problem of food for human consumption may be capable of a satisfactory solution
But as regards the cattle feed the gap between the requirement and the available quantities is so wide that there is little possibility in any foresee able future of the country producing enough to feed them adequately
To summarise The country is in short supply of milch cattle breeding bulls and working bullocks
If the nation is to maintain itself in health and nourishment and get adequate food our cattle must be improved
In order to achieve this objective our cattle population fit for breeding and work must be properly fed and whatever cattle food is now at our disposal and whatever more we can produce must be made available to the useful cattle which are in presenti or will in futuro be capable of yielding milk or doing work
The maintenance of useless cattle involves a wasteful drain on the nation s cattle feed
To maintain them is to deprive the useful cattle of the much needed nourishment
The presence of so many useless animals tends to deteriorate the breed
Total ban on the slaughter of cattle useful or otherwise is calculated to bring about a serious dislocation though not a complete stoppage of the business of a considerable section of the people who are by occupation butchers Kasais hide merchants and so on
Such a ban will also deprive a large section of the people of what may 685 be their staple food
At any rate they will have to forego the little protein food which may be within their means to take once or twice in the week
Preservation of useless cattle by establishment of Gosadans is not for reasons already indicated a practical proposition
Preservation of these useless animals by sending them to concentration camps to fend for themselves is to leave them to a process of slow death and does no good to them
On the contrary it hurts the best interests of the nation in that the useless cattle deprive the useful ones of a good part of the cattle food deteriorate the breed and eventually affect the production of milk and breeding bulls and working bullocks besides involving an enormous expense which could be better utilised for more urgent national needs
We are not unmindful of the fact that beef and buffalo flesh from calves under one year of age
heifers and young castrated stock yielding meat of a superior quality fetch comparatively higher prices in the market and therefore the tendency of the butchers naturally is to slaughter young calves
This circumstance clearly warns us that calves heifers and young castrated stock cattle and buffalo which will in future supply us milk and power for purposes of agriculture require protection
We also do not fail to bear in mind that for very good and cogent reasons cows also require protection
Cows give us milk and her progeny for future service
Unfortunately however the average milk yield of a cow as already stated is very much less than that of a she buffalo
As the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee s Report points out despite all the veneration professed for the cow when it comes to the question of feeding the she buffalo always receives favoured treatment and the cow has to be satisfied with whatever remains after feeding the she buffaloes bullocks and calves in order of priority
The growth of cities and heavy demand for milk in the urban areas have contributed to the slaughter of good stock
For want of space no freshly calved animal can be brought in without getting rid of one that had gone dry
Salvage facilities not being available or if available 686 being uneconomical the professional gowalas who are mostly if not wholly Hindus find it uneconomical to maintain the cow after she goes dry and consequently sell her to the butcher for slaughter at Rs 30 to Rs 50 per head irrespective of her age and potential productivity and import a fresh cow
The veneration professed for the sanctity attached to the cow does not prevent them from doing so
In big towns the municipal regulations are stringent and slaughter is permitted only of unserviceable and unproductive animals
Instances are not uncommon however that to get an animal passed for slaughter the teeth or the rings round the horns of the animal are tampered with and sometimes a cow is even maimed in order that she may be passed by the veterinary inspector as fit for slaughter
Cows which are rejected by the inspector are taken out of the limits of the cities and slaughtered in the rural areas
As slaughter is not confined to registered slaughter houses the number of useful animals which are slaughtered cannot be given accurately
It is estimated in the Report of the Expert Committee at p 2 that at least 50000 high yielding cows and she buffaloes from cities of Bombay Calcutta and Madras alone are sent annually for permature slaughter and are lost to the country
The causes of slaughter of useful cattle are enumerated at pp 2 3 and 9 of that Report namely lack of space in the cities and suburban areas long dry period want of arrangement for breeding bulls at the proper time the anxiety to get as much milk out of the cow as possible the high cost of maintenance of cows in the cities and the difficulties in the matter of obtaining adequate fodder
For these reasons many animals are sent to the slaughter houses through sheer economic pressure and are replaced by fresh animals imported from breeding areas
The danger of such premature slaughter is greater for the cow for being an animal with a scanty yield of milk it does not pay the owner to maintain her through the long dry period and hence there is an inducement for adopting even cruel practices to get her passed by the inspectors
But a dry she buffalo is well worth preserving and maintaining 687 in expectation of rich return at the next lactation
Besides buffaloes for slaughter will not fetch as good a price as cows would do
Likewise there will not be much inducement to the agriculturist or other owner to part with the breeding bulls or working bullocks cattle and
buffalo as long as they are serviceable
For their sheer usefulness and their high market value as breeding or working animals the breeding bulls and working bullocks as long as they are fit are to the agriculturists worth more than the price of their flesh in gold
There can hardly be any inducement for maiming valuable animals which as breeding bulls or working animals can at any time fetch from the agriculturists a price higher than what the maimed ones will fetch from the butchers
The breeding bulls and working bullocks cattle and buffaloes do not therefore require as much protection as cows and calves do
The next question is as to what should be the scope of the ban on the slaughter of animals
One view is that the slaughter of all animals cattle and buffaloes of all categories should be regulated by the State and that animals below a specified age or not suffering from some natural deformity should not be allowed to be slaughtered
Drastic and stringent regulations have been imposed by municipal laws and have been tried but experience shows that they are not sufficient at least to protect the cow
It has been found to be extremely difficult to enforce the regulations for inadequacy of staff and veterinary inspectors little or no check on the veterinary inspectors who succumb to the pressure or inducements of the butchers and pass animals not really useless as and for useless and aged animals
A large percentage of the animals not fit for slaughter are slaughtered surreptitiously outside the municipal limits
For reasons of economy rapacious gowalas or callous agriculturists find it uneconomical to maintain the dry cow and even resort to cruel practices and maim the cow in order to get her passed for slaughter
As already stated the she buffalo and the breeding bulls and working bullocks both cattle and buffaloes for their value present and 688 future do not ruin the same amount of danger as a dry cow does
Regulation of slaughter of animals above a specified age may not be quite adequate protection for the cow but may be quite sufficient for the breeding bulls and working bullocks and the she buffaloes
These considerations induce us to make an exception even in favour of the old and decrepit cows
The counsel for the petitioners be it said to their credit did not contend otherwise
After giving our most careful and anxious consideration to the pros and cons of the problem as indicated and discussed above and keeping in view the presumption in favour of the validity of the legislation and without any the least disrespect to the opinions of the legislatures concerned we feel that in discharging the ultimate responsibility cast on us by the Constitution we must approach and analyse the problem in an objective and realistic manner and then make our pronouncement on the reasonableness of the restrictions imposed by the impugned enactments
So approaching and analysing the problem we have reached the conclusion i that a total ban on the slaughter of cows of all ages and calves of cows and calves of she buffaloes male and female is quite reasonable and valid and is in consonance with the directive principles laid down in article 48 ii that a total ban on the slaughter of she buffaloes or breeding bulls or working bullocks cattle as well as buffaloes as long as they are as milch or draught cattle is also reasonable and valid and iii that a total ban on the slaughter of she buffaloes bulls and bullocks cattle or buffalo after they cease to be capable of yielding milk or of breeding or working as draught animals cannot be supported as reasonable in the interest of the general public
We now proceed to test each of the impugned Acts in the light of the aforesaid conclusions we have arrived at The Bihar Act in so far as it prohibits the slaughter of cows of all ages and calves of cows and calves of buffaloes male and female is valid
The Bihar Act makes no distinction between she buffaloes bulls and bullocks cattle and buffaloes which are useful as milch or breeding or draught animals and those which are not and indiscriminately prohibits slaughter of she buffaloes bulls and bullocks cattle and buffalo irrespective of their age or usefulness
In our view the ban on slaughter of she buffaloes breeding bulls and working bullocks cattle
and buffalo which are useful is reasonable but of those which are not useful is not valid
The question as to when a she buffalo breeding bull or working bullock cattle and buffalo ceases to be useful and becomes useless and unserviceable is a matter for legislative determination
There is no provision in the Bihar Act in that behalf
Nor has our attention been drawn to any rule which may throw any light on the point
It is therefore not possible to apply the doctrine of severability and uphold the ban on the slaughter of she buffaloes breeding bulls and working bullocks cattle and buffalo which are useful as milch or breeding or working animals and strike down the ban on the slaughter of those which are useless
The entire provision banning the slaughter of she buffaloes breeding bulls and working bullocks cattle and buffalo has therefore to be struck down
The result is that we uphold and declare that the Bihar Act in so far as it prohibits the slaughter of cows of all ages and calves of cows and calves of buffaloes male and female is constitutionally valid and we hold that in so far as it totally prohibits the slaughter of she buffaloes breeding bulls and working bullocks cattle and buffalo without prescribing any test or requirement as to their age or usefulness it infringes the rights of the petitioners under article 19 1 g and is to that extent void
As regards the U P Act we uphold and declare for reasons already stated that it is constitutionally valid in so far as it prohibits the slaughter of cows of all ages and calves of cows male and female but we hold that in so far as it purports to totally prohibit the slaughter of breeding bulls and working bullocks without prescribing any test or requirement as to their age or usefulness it offends against article 19 1 g and is to that extent void
690 As regards the Madhya Pradesh Act we likewise declare that it is constitutionally valid in so far as it prohibits the slaughter of cows of all ages and calves of cows male and female but that it is void in so far as it totally prohibits the slaughter of breeding bulls and working bullocks without prescribing any test or requirement as to their age or usefulness
We also hold that the Act is valid in so far as it regulates the slaughter of other animals under certificates granted by the authorities mentioned therein
In the premises we direct the respondent States not to enforce their respective Acts in so far as they have just been declared void by us
The parties will bear and pay their own costs of these applications
Petitions partly allowed


Summary:
In May 1985 some of the hutments in the Bombay Port Trust lands were cleared by the Port Trust and these hut ments were demolished
The petitioners filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court for restraining the Bombay Port Trust from carrying out any further demolition of the hut ments
The writ petition was dismissed by a Single Judge of the High court
An appeal preferred against the order of the Single Judge was dismissed by a Division Bench
Hence the appeal by special leave to this Court
By an interim order dated 27th January 1986 a Division Bench of this Court fixed a cut off date as January 1 1981 for the purpose of granting relief in the form of providing alternative sites to the hutment dwellers and directed that those hutment dwellers who have been continuously in occupa tion for at least two years prior to January 1 1981 shall not be thrown out unless and until alternative sites are provided to them for occupation
A Commission was also appointed to identify the persons who were eligible for alternative sites in terms of the aforesaid interim order
In its report submitted on 4th November 1986 the Commission pointed out that only 50 hutment dwellers could satisfy the Commission that they were living on the site for a period of two years prior to the cut off date
The other hutment dwellers were unable to do so
174 It was contended on behalf of the petitioners that i in view of the time which has gone by cut off date fixed by this Court should be extended and ii the policy of the State of Maharashtra was not to evict unauthorised occupants on public lands except after providing them alternative accommodation
Disposing of the special leave petition it was HELD 1
The problem of hutment dwellers is a human problem and the removal of hutments is bound to cause an untold hardship and misery to the occupants
However on that consideration the Bombay Port Trust cannot be prevent ed from putting its land to its own use
178C 2
Once the cut off date has been fixed by this Court there is no basis for extending the cut off date merely because time has gone by since that would render the entire task given to the Commission futile
Moreover doing so would run counter to the intention of this Court in making the aforesaid order which was to protect only those hutment dwellers who had been in occupation for at least two years prior to 111981
In view of the fact that no policy state ment of the Government of the State of Maharashtra was pointed out it cannot be taken into account
Moreover the Port Trust land cannot be regarded as public land in occupa tion of the Government either the Central Government or the State Government
177E H 21
Under the circumstances directed that the said 50 hutment dwellers along with their families who had been identified by the Commission as having occupied the said hutments for two years or more prior to the cut off date namely 111981 shall not be removed from their hutments and their hutments shall not be demolished except after provision of alternative sites for them
The Port Trust will be at liberty to remove these hutments after giving alterna tive sites to these hutment dwellers
177H 178A B 3
It is not possible for this Court to say whether there would be a greater injury to public interest by the removal of the unauthorised hutment dwellers or by prevent ing the Port Trust from putting its own land to a proper use
178C D 4
The State Government or the Central Government or even the Bombay Port Trust may make some provision for providing alternative sites at least to some of these hut ment dwellers
However 175 the provision of such alternative sites is not made a condi tion precedent to the removal of the hutment dwellers or the hutments in question other than those who are entitled to protection on the basis set out earlier