"Cow Slaughter Not Essential Sacrifice For Bakrid": Madras High Court Bans Slaughtering Of Cow And Calf In State

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (May 27) directed Tamil Nadu's Chief Secretary to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid. It my be noted that Bakrid or Eid-ul-Zuha will be celebrated tomorrow i.e. May 28. 

A division bench of Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayan passed the order in a plea seeking direction to the state authorities, including the Director General of Police, to take steps to prevent the slaughter of cows in public places. 

"We allow this writ petition with a direction to the State of Tamil Nadu to ensure that no cow or calf is slaughtered on the eve of Bakrid or on any other day. The authorities particularly the Chief Secretary to the Government and the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) are obliged to issue suitable instructions to all the officials concerned to ensure that there is no breach of this order," the court said.

The petitioner Surya, State General Secretary of the Indu Makkal Katchi, submitted that he had come to know that the cows are being slaughtered illegally in public places and had sent a representation on May 18 to the respondents to immediately take steps to prevent cow slaughter in public places and to rescue the cows. However, the petitioner claimed that the respondents did consider the representation. 

The court considered the counter-affidavit filed by the authorities, conceding that temporary sheds had been constructed for the slaughter of cows in non-public areas without causing any obstruction to traffic or offending the religious sentiments of persons belonging to other communities.

The court observed that as per Article 48 of the Constitution, the State is bound to take steps to prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle. The court also pointed out that cow was considered as a reverred animal during the constituent assembly debates and even during the rule of Muslim rulers, cow slaughter had been banned. 

"During the debates in the Constituent Assembly, it was pointed out that cow is a revered animal and that it has been associated with our civilisation from the time of Lord Krishna. During the rule of many Muslim kings cow slaughter was abolished. Cow protection was an issue so dear to Mahatma Gandhiji," the court remarked.

Relying upon various judicial pronouncements related to the issue, the court observed that the slaughter of cows was not an essential religious practice for Muslims on Bakrid and the sacrifice of a cow on that day is not an obligatory overt act for a Musalman to exhibit his religious beliefs and ideas. 

"The Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that many Muslims do not sacrifice cows on BakrI'd day. Sacrifice of a cow on that day is not an obligatory overt act for a Musalman to exhibit his religious belief and idea (Mohammed Hanif Quareshi -vs- State of Bihar AIR 1958 SC 731). Sacrifice of any animal by the Muslims for the religious purpose on BakrI'd does not include slaughtering of cows as the only way of carrying out that sacrifice. Slaughtering of cows on this occasion is neither essential to nor necessarily required as part of the religious ceremony (State of West Bengal -vs- Ashutosh Lahiri (1995) 1 SCC 189)," the court observed.

The court also took note of the law laid down in Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Animal Preservation Act, 1958, which stated that no cow could be slaughtered unless it was more than 10 years of age and was unfit for work or breeding. The court noted that since the provision was variance with Article 48 of the Constitution, it had to be given a strict interpretation. The court thus held that cow slaughter could be permitted only upon receiving a certificate from the authorities.

The court also noted that the Tamil Nadu government had issued a GO banning slaughter of cows and heifers in the interest of milk production and the improvement of the rural economy. Since this executive order was co-terminus with the legilstaive intent, the court held that it could be enforceable under law.

Thus, considering all aspects, the court directed the government to prevent cow slaughter in connection with Bakrid festival. The court also added that any slaughter would have to be carried out only in designated areas

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr.N.Seshadhri

Counsel for Respondent: Mr.P.V.Balasubramaniam, Additional Advocate General and Mr.T.Gowthaman, Additional Advocate General assisted by Mr.M.Guruprasad, Mr.R.John Satyan, Public Prosecutor assisted by Mr.C.R.Malarvannan

Case title: K Surya v/s Secretary to the Government & Ors. 

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 224

Case No: WP No. 20225 of 2026