CM was adviser on ‘Beef Petition’ Trust
GLENN COSTA
[email protected]
PANJIM: Akhil Viswa Jai Shriram Gosavardhan Kendra, a Trust and one of the petitioners in the High Court of Bombay at Goa alleging illegalities in the Goa Meat Complex had as one of its Advisers on record Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar till about a month back.
Parrikar, however, resigned “about a month ago” the head of the Trust told Herald today. Among the other Advisers ~ a total of four ~ on record for the Trust are the former Mayor of Panjim, Ashok Naik.
The State at present is facing a shortage of beef, a staple non-vegetarian meat for many, and the authorities are desperately trying to make provisions to import cattle for slaughter from outside Goa to meet the demand. The petition had resulted in the court ordering a ban of slaughter of animals from outside the State, directing that no animals be transported in violation of the prevention of transportation of animals rules as also that the rule preventing the slaughter of animals below the age of twelve years be adhered to.
The Trust, formed in 2008, with its registered office in Valpoi, Sattari, is headed by Hanumant Parab. The “beef petition”, as it has become known in popular parlance, has been filed by three parties ~ an NGO (Govansh Raksha Abhiyaan), the Trust (Akhil Viswa Jai Shriram Gosavardhan Kendra) on which the CM was an Adviser till very recently, and Parab himself in his personal capacity.
Parab, when contacted by Herald, said that the Trust was a petitioner in the “beef case” and that Parrikar was indeed one of its Advisers till “about a month back when he resigned.” Whether the CM knew, before he quit, of the petition being discussed / drafted or that the Trust was to be a petitioner, is as yet unclear.
The High Court had banned the slaughter of animals for beef in an ad interim order. Subsequently, a Division bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa, on Tuesday, in an interim order allowed the slaughter of cattle at the Goa Meat Complex after placing stringent conditions including that of proper certification of animals before slaughter and certification in the presence of representatives of the government and the petitioner.
The petition had raised the matter of the implementation of the Goa, Daman and Diu Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act 1978 and the Goa Preservation Act 1995 and alleged illegal slaughtering of animals at the Goa Meat Complex in brazen disregard to the provisions of the two legislations.
Earlier, the court constituted committee on affairs of the Goa Meat Complex at Marvasaddo in Usgao, in its report submitted before the court had pointed out to the various illegalities that they had observed and recommended that the activities “be commenced without any further delay under the monitoring and supervision by an independent committee appointed comprising of the deputy collector, Ponda, SDPO Ponda, and representative of the Animal Husbandry Department not below the rank of Assistant Director so that the slaughtering of animals takes place as per the rules and regulation in force.
The court had then allowed the slaughtering of bulls under the provisions of the Goa, Daman and Diu, Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act 1978, the Goa Animal Preservation Act 1995 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and rules framed there under, but added that a representative of the petition be present at the time of certification of the animals.
The court also decreed that no animals shall be slaughtered unless it has a certificate from the “competent authority” under the Goa Animal Preservation Act 1995. Under this Act, the “competent authority” cannot give a certificate if the animal is or is likely to become economical for the purpose of draught or any kind of agricultural operations.
Meanwhile, the NGO petitioner in a press note issued on Monday denied GMC chairman Lyndon Monteiro’s claim that orders were passed without hearing the GMC, saying that all orders were passed after hearing the advocate general who appeared on behalf of the Goa Meat Complex and Monteiro was himself present in the court at the hearing on May 9, 2013. The NGO added that the State Director of Animal Husbandry was a member and signatory to the report of the three-member committee, which investigated into and found illegalities at the complex.
