Slaughtering of calves and illegal export of beef will now attract serious punishment under the new law and will be treated as non-bailable offence as President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday approved the oldest pending bill, the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995.
BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, along with six other party MPs from the state, had requested the President to give his assent to the bill. The bill was enacted by the earlier Shiv Sena-BJP government but was stalled by central governments, including the NDA in its earlier tenure. Slaughtering of cows is already banned under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976.
“The Bill will ensure that the slaughtering of calves remains a congnizable and non-bailable offence with a punishment up to five years’ imprisonment or Rs 10,000 fine or both,” animal husbandry minister Eknath Khadse said. He added that the move would also stop illegal export or trade of cows, bullocks and calves and their meat too.
