Will make cow slaughter laws stricter: K'taka Dy CM

Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan on Tuesday said the BJP government will strengthen the existing law to crackdown on slaughter of cows, even as calls within the saffron party are getting louder for a beef ban.

“The Constitution has already prohibited slaughter of cows, so there’s no need for a new law. We will implement the existing law. Amendments will be brought to strengthen the law if there are shortcomings. Cow slaughter shouldn’t happen,” Narayan told reporters.

This comes a day after Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the government was working on a new Bill to prohibit cow slaughter. Even Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said Karnataka was “eligible” to ban cow slaughter like many other Indian states that have done it.

In 2010, when Yediyurappa was the chief minister, the BJP government got the controversial Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill passed amid resistance from the Opposition Congress. With that, Karnataka joined the likes of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh that had a similar law in place.

The Bill proposed to replace the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964. The BJP’s Bill had widened the definition of ‘cattle’, essentially imposing a blanket ban on cattle slaughter, coupled with stringent penalty clauses for violation.

The Bill was before the President for assent when, in 2013, the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah withdrew it, restoring the 1964 Act that allowed slaughter bulls, bullocks and buffaloes only if they were aged over 12 years or if they were unfit for breeding or did not give milk.

So far, BJP Vijayapura MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, the party’s Gau Samrakshana Prakoshta and others have petitioned Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to re-enact the cow slaughter prevention Bill and to strengthen its provisions.