The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the municipal corporations in the state to consider and decide on representations made by an organisation seeking a temporary ban on animal slaughter and the sale of meat during the Paryushan Parv, a prominent Jain festival from August 31 to September 7.

The HC was hearing a PIL by a public charitable trust from Pune, Sheth Motishaw Lalbaug Jain Charities, seeking direction to the municipal corporations in Mumbai, Pune, Mira Bhayander, and Nashik municipal corporations, among others, to consider imposing a temporary ban. 

“We direct the authorities to decide the representation of the petitioner seeking to impose a temporary ban on the slaughtering of animals and sale of meat during (from) August 31 to September 7. We urge the civic bodies to take a decision urgently since the festival commences from (on) August 31,” a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar said. 

Petitioner's advocates Beni Chatteriji and Shreyash Shah said that the organisation approached the HC after the civic bodies failed to respond to their representations. It highlighted various aspects of Jain belief, including one of the most significant tenets of Jainism – Ahimsa (non-violence). 

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The petitioner claimed that if animal slaughter takes place during Paryushan Parv, it will be detrimental to the cause of Jainism and will create a vitiating environment. It added that the globally observed festival marked a period of “spiritual reflection, self-purification, fasting, meditation, and non-violence”.

“Notwithstanding the sacred nature of the festival, the members of the community are forced to witness the animal slaughter which continues during the period in almost all parts of Maharashtra. This ongoing practice not only contradicts the very ethos of the festival but also creates an environment of dissonance and conflict between the values of non-violence that the festival represents and the realities of animal slaughter,” the PIL claimed.

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The HC has asked the civic bodies to decide on the representations by August 30, 2024. It has clarified that it had not commented on the merits of the contentions and that the authorities’ decisions needed to be independent and in accordance with the law.