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Mumbai HC upholds Maharashtra government's ban on beef

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beef-ban

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court today declined to stay provisions of a recent Maharashtra law which prohibits possession, transportation and consumption of meat of cow, bulls and bullocks even if the animals have been slaughtered outside Maharashtra.

A division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade was of the view that no stay can be given until the final hearing of a bunch of petitions challenging the beef ban which was fixed on June 25.

The court asked the state government to file a detailed affidavit on the issue within four weeks and allowed the petitioners and intervenors to file rejoinders two weeks thereafter.

The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, enforced last month by the state government, bans slaughter of cows, bulls and bullocks and also consumption and possession of their meat.

Three petitions were filed challenging Sections 5(d) and 9(a) of the Act which prohibits possession, transportation and consumption of meat of cow, bulls and bullocks even if the animals have been slaughtered outside Maharashtra.

According to the petitions, this puts a ban on import of meat. The petitions sought a stay on these sections.

In another development, the court directed the state not to take any coercive action till pendency of petitions or three months against traders who have been found in possession or transportation of beef.

“This is because the Act had been introduced suddenly and reasonable time was not given to the traders to dispose of their products,” said the Judges.

However, FIRs can be registered against such traders but no further action can be taken until the petitions are decided finally or three months whichever is earlier, the court said.

The court also clarified that since ban on beef continues in the State under the Act, FIRs can be registered against slaughter of cows, bulls and bullocks.

As a note of caution, the Court also said that the state shall not intrude on the privacy of citizens to find out if they are in possession of beef or any other form of meat.

The court clarified that no blanket stay can be imposed on the provisions of the Act which ban transportation or possession of beef, though FIR can be registered against the offenders under the Act.

The judges said they were of the view that the traders had not been given reasonable time to dispose of the beef products as the Act was brought in all of a sudden. Hence they directed the State not to take coercive steps against them though FIR can be registered.

“There can be no compelling reason for the State to impose ban without giving a reasonable opportunity to traders provided they abided by the rules on food hygiene and safety,” said the division bench in their brief order.

Senior counsel Aspi Chinoy, appearing for one of the petitioners, had argued that such a ban on consumption was violative of the fundamental right of a person to have his choice of food.

“Section 5 (d) is extremely invasive, drastic and intrusive. There is no real justification behind making possession and consumption of beef a cognisable offence.

The government should not arbitrarily invade the rights of citizens,” Chinoy argued.

He said that the state has not even contemplated regulation of import of meat.

“Five states in India, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, have permitted import of beef despite a ban on slaughter of those animals. And in these states passion go high in such matters but it is still allowed,” Chinoy said.

Advocate General Sunil Manohar had, however, argued that consumption of beef is not a fundamental right of a citizen and the state government can regulate a person’s fundamental right to have his choice of food.

“It is not a fundamental right of a citizen to eat beef. It cannot be said that the government cannot take away these rights. The state legislation can regulate consumption of flesh of any animal the source of which is reprehensible. Under the Animal Protection Act, there is a prohibition on consumption of wild boar, deer and other animals,” he argued.

Manohar further argued that if section 5(d) of the Act, which prohibits possession of meat, is struck down then the Act would remain only on paper and it would frustrate the purpose and object of the Act which is to protect cow progeny.

(PTI)

Church vandalised in MP, culprits in Maharashtra attack still at large

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CHURCH

Jabalpur/Mumbai: A cathedral premises and a Catholic school where people had gathered for a religious convention were vandalised allegedly by Hindu activists at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, the second incident to come to light after yesterday’s attack on a church in neighbouring Maharashtra, drawing outrage from the Christian community.

No arrests have been made so far in connection with the Jabalpur incident which took place on March 20 and the wee hours of March 21, when some members of the Christian community were allegedly assaulted and threatened by members of Bajrang Dal and Dharam Sena who attacked the school and a parsonage alleging that religious conversion had been taking place there.

There was also no breakthrough in the probe into the church attack in New Panvel area in Navi Mumbai though police were grilling some suspects.

The CCTV footage showed that the attack was carried out by two masked persons who were riding pillion on a motorcycle at around 1.30 AM yesterday when they hurled stones at the Saint George Catholic church located near a bridge in New Panvel.

There are no eyewitnesses to the incident and the scanning of CCTV footage has also not thrown up any substantial leads to identity the attackers, police said.

However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the culprits will be nabbed soon.

In Jabalpur, police booked a leader of Dharma Sena and some others but church authorities questioned the “delay” in arresting the culprits.

“Dharma Sena leader Yogesh Agrawal and Raju Rai and a few others have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and efforts are on to track down and arrest them,” Jabalpur Superintendent of Police HC Mishra told PTI today.

The church authorities alleged that the miscreants stormed into the Cathedral premises and a school housing a grotto with St Mary’s idol.

They broke earthen pots and and shattered glass panes of windows of the parsonage, accusing Father Thankachan Jose of converting the Hindus to Christianity.

Ravi Francis, claiming to be a witness, said he was roughed up by Dharma Sena and Bajrang Dal activists who stormed into Saint Thomas School campus, where some people who came for a convention were staying.

Though Fr Thankachan and police officials held talks with leaders of the Hindu outfits to ease the situation, some of them stormed into the premises and started abusing them, he alleged.

Police sought to chase them from the campus but they refused to give in and marched to the nearby Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral where the first day of the convention was held.

They then barged into the Cathedral premises shouting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and demanded that Fr Thankachan be handed over to them. As they could not find him there, they vandalised the parsonage, close to the Cathedral, Francis said.

“Though our Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, it is being violated openly,” Fr Thankachan said, adding that the church had given to police the CCTV footage of the incident.

Congress leader Manish Tewari slammed the attacks as “part of an orchestrated campaign” and a “conspiracy by the right wing to terrorise the minorities”.

The Nationalist Congress Party demanded that the governments at the Centre and in the states take serious note of such “mischievous activities” which damage the democratic fabric of the country.

Archbishop of Goa Rev Filipe Nery Ferrao said the Christian community felt “intimidated and unsafe” in the wake of the attacks.

Referring to the attacks on churches and the VHP’s “Ghar Wapsi”, the Archbishop said, “It is an undeniable fact that Christians feel intimidated and unsafe in many parts of the country due to the ongoing incidents that pose a big threat to the unity of this secular nation.”

The incidents come close on the heels of an under- construction church in Kaimri village near Hisar in Haryana being vandalised by a group, triggering tension in the area.

Earlier, after a string of church attacks in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured at a religious congregation that his government will not allow any religious group to incite hatred and will strongly act against any religious violence.

The Prime Minister, who has been accused by opposition and Christian groups of turning a blind eye to such attacks on five churches and a Christian school in Delhi, had said his government “gives equal respect to all religions”.

Meanwhile, Jabalpur IG of Police D Sriniwas Rao told reporters that those indulging in unlawful activities would not be spared. “We are going to arrest the accused soon,” he added.

Narrating the incident, Francis claimed the episode ended only after a large police contingent was deployed around the premises.

“They came to the Cathedral premises around 9 PM on March 20. They created such a scare that we had to hide ourselves till 4 AM of March 21, by when a large contingent of police had been deployed around the campus,” he said.

Security has been stepped up at religious places in Navi Mumbai after yesterday’s attack.

“We are questioning several people on grounds of suspicion of their involvement in the crime. However, we are yet to lay our hands on concrete clues,” Assistant Police Commissioner S B Suryavanshi said.

Asked about clues from the CCTV footage, he said, “The attackers covered their faces. There is nothing much to get from the CCTV.”

However, offences have been registered against the unidentified men under sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 427 (mischief) of the IPC, police said.

The church was built in 2007 and can accommodate over 800 people for prayer.

The masked miscreants, who came on a motorcycle in the wee hours yesterday, hurled stones at the Saint George Catholic church of the Syro Malabar hierarchy, damaging the glass case of the statue of Saint George.

(PTI)

Holy cow-beef and Indian political games

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A group of lawyers in Chennai staging a ‘beef eating’ protest in the Madras High Court campus, in the wake of ban on cow slaughter by Maharashtra Government.

A group of lawyers in Chennai staging a ‘beef eating’ protest in the Madras High Court campus, in the wake of ban on cow slaughter by Maharashtra Government.

Can the dietary practices, the animal which is worshipped as a mother by section of population, be brought in on the political arena? While all this sounds surreal, its true as far as the role of cow is there in Indian political firmament. Recently Maharashtra Government got the Presidents assent to the bill “Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill 1995 which will now ban the slaughter of bulls and bullocks as well. The defaulters will face a prison term of five years and a fine of Rs. 10000. When I first read ‘Animal Preservation’ part of the title of the bill, I thought this is some bill related to all the animals which are used for human consumption or deals with the use of animals for different purposes by the society. Contrary to that it turned out that this applies only to Cow and its progeny. A decade ago I was shocked to read that one of the outstanding scholars of ancient Indian History Professor Dwijendra Nath Jha received regular threats on phone telling him not to publish his book, ‘Holy Cow Beef in Indian Dietary tradition’. This scholarly work traces the place of beef in Indian diet from centuries.

The idea is to target the minorities for beef eating, and cow slaughter. One recalls that one of the slogans which rent the air in the run up the 2014 General elections was “Modi ko matdan, gai ko jeevadan [Vote for Modi, give life to the cow], BJP ka sandesh, bachegi gai, bachega desh [BJP’s message, the cow will be saved, the country will be saved]”. This slogan was propped up ‘Cow Development Cell’ of BJP.

As such emotive-identity issues are the hall mark of the politics in the name of religion. BJP built itself up on another identity issue, that of Ram Temple. The cow has always been accompanying and a parallel issue for political mobilization by RSS-BJP. It has also been the point of triggering violence in many cases all through. With the formation of VHP by RSS in 1964, cow issue has been systematically propped up time and over again. Many a misconceptions about cow, beef eating have been constructed. Building of misconceptions has also been extended to the dietary habits of the ‘Muslim’ community in particular. The profession of section of Muslims, Kasai (butcher), those in the trade of beef selling has been brought in to the ‘Hate other’, ‘social common sense’ in particular. The result being that it is perceived at broad layers of society as if beef eating is compulsory for Muslims. The notion which has been popularized is that Cow is Holy for Hindus: Muslims kill her! The perception is that the Muslim invaders brought beef eating into India. These misconceptions are by now the part of ‘social common sense’ of the large number of people in the society.

All the components of this are myths and stereotypes have been constructed over a period of time. Time and over again one hears about some small communal violence, killing of dalits and traders of cows leading to communal polarization. Many a dalits dealing with cow hide have been killed in places like Gohana in Hariyana and the VHP leaders had justified such acts.

Contrary to this the beef eating and sacrifice of cows was prevalent here from Vedic period. The sacrifice of cows in the Yagnas (ritual around fire) is extensively mentioned in the scriptures. There is mention about beef eating in various books. There is a phrase in Taitreya Brahmin which states ‘Atho Annam Via Gau’ (Cow is in veritably food) Different gods are mentioned to be having their choices for particular type of cow flesh. Prof D. N. Jha quotes innumerable examples of this in his masterpiece.

The preaching of non violence in India came with the rise of agricultural society. Jainism called for total non violence, while Buddhism talked non-violence; preventing of wasteful animal sacrifice in particular. It was much later that Brahmanism picked up cow as a symbol for Brahmanism in response and as a reaction to non-violence of these religions. Since Brahmanism has asserted itself to be the Hinduism it projects as if Cow is holy for Hindus overall. The matter of fact is that many sections of society, more particularly Dalits and Tribal have been eating beef all through. It is another matter that lately with the rising assertion of Hindutva, many a communities which are dependent on beef as a rich and cheap source of protein are gradually being forced to either give it up or do a rethink on that.

In contrast to what is being asserted by BJP and company, Swami Vivekanand had a different take on the issue. He points out speaking to a large gathering in USA said: “You will be astonished if I tell you that, according to old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it.”

[Vivekananda speaking at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, USA (2 February 1900) on the theme of ‘Buddhistic India’, cited in Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol 3 (Calcutta: Advaita Ashram, 1997), p. 536.]
This is corroborated by other research works sponsored by the Ramakrishna Mission established by Swami Vivekananda himself. One of these reads: “The Vedic Aryans, including the Brahmanas, ate fish, meat and even beef. A distinguished guest was honoured with beef served at a meal. Although the Vedic Aryans ate beef, milch cows were not killed. One of the words that designated cow was aghnya (what shall not be killed). But a guest was a goghna (one for whom a cow is killed). It is only bulls, barren cows and calves that were killed.”[C. Kunhan Raja, ‘Vedic Culture’, cited in the series, Suniti Kumar Chatterji and others (eds.), The Cultural Heritage of India, Vol 1 (Calcutta: The Ramakrishna Mission, 1993), 217.]

In response to this bill thousands of workers of Devnar abattoir (Mumbai), who will be losing their jobs came on the streets to protest against this move of the government (March 11). Many traders, from different religion also came to Azad Maidan in Mumbai to protest this communal act of the Maharashtra Government. In a PIL filed in the Bombay High Court the petitioner argues that this ban on beef infringes on the fundamental right of citizens to choose meat of their choice is fundamental. The hope is that the society overcomes such abuse of ‘identity issues’ for political goals and lets the people have their own choices in matters of food habits, and let those who are making their living from this trade do so peacefully.

 

In Kerala, a beef fest to protest against beef ban

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beef-fest-kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Beef cooked in the open and Hindus and Muslims sitting together for a meal – this was how a section of people in Kerala protested today against the recent ban on the meat in Maharashtra.

Beef in Kerala means both cows and buffaloes and its consumption has no religious overtones. Not only do some Hindus here eat beef, going by sales figures, it is also the most-favoured meat in the state.

The annual sale of beef is estimated at 2.3 lakh metric tonnes against the corresponding figure for poultry — 1.51 lakh metric tonnes.

“I am a Hindu. I should be given the freedom to eat whatever I want, even when I am eating this,” said Ajith P from Kannur, who was at the protest of DYFI, the state CPM’s youth wing, at Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

Sharing the dish with him was Ajeeth Muhammad. Though a supporter of Muslim League, he said he didn’t mind backing a cause. “None of us here have issues with beef consumption. It is part of Kerala’s culture. How can we be stopped from eating something we want to?” he said.

Heading the protest, DYFI’s B Biju said, “This is a token protest against the ban of beef in Maharashtra and a warning for anyone who would want to implement the same in Kerala. Any ban our food will not be acceptable.”

A state panchayat law lays clear guidelines for slaughterhouses – that an animal can’t be slaughtered unless it is over 10 years old, or has been made unfit for work or breeding due to injury or deformity.

Digging into the beef curry before returning to the Assembly, CPM legislator P Sreeramakrishnan said, “I eat my beef. And so do many others in Kerala. Nothing will change.”

Last week, President Pranab Mukherjee ratified the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill which bans the slaughter of calves and bullocks.

Anyone found selling or eating beef can be jailed for five years and fined Rs. 10,000. Only the consumption of buffaloes, which give inferior quality beef, will be allowed.

Beef traders – thousands of whom will be jobless – and a section of people in social media have protested against the ban, with hashtag #BeefBan trending for a while on Twitter.

(Agencies)

What BJP did to hurt Muslims in Maharashtra

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The state decided not to convert the ordinance, allowing five per cent reservation in government jobs and education for Muslim backward classes, into a law.

Muslims-in-India

by Sanjay Nirupam

The Maharashtra government’s decision not to convert the ordinance passed by the previous Congress government, allowing five per cent reservation in government jobs and education for Muslim backward classes, into a law can best be described as obnoxious. The ordinance was promulgated towards the fag end of the previous government. The BJP-Shiv Sena government has allowed it to lapse.

Contrary to popular perception, the reservation was not for all Muslims in the state. It was meant only for the backward classes practising Islam. If backward classes in the Hindu religion can claim reservation, what is wrong if the same logic is applied to other religions?

It was not a political decision by the Congress government to offer such reservation just before the elections. The decision was taken after a fact-finding committee, on the lines of the Sachar Committee, submitted its report to the state government. The committee worked for almost eight years and after exhaustive consultations and discussion, it submitted a report on the plight of the most backward communities among Muslims. The government simply acted on the recommendations of the committee. Many have questioned why the government chose the ordinance way and promulgated it on the eve of elections. The fact remains that the study took several years and the government was running out of time.

The Indian Constitution doesn’t allow reservation on the basis of religion and the previous Maharashtra government did not violate the provisions of the Constitution. The five per cent quota was offered on the basis of caste, not on the basis of religion. The same ordinance also offered 16 per cent reservation for Marathas. Within days of it being promulgated, it was challenged in Mumbai High Court. The court rejected the Maratha reservation but upheld quota for Muslim backward classes. Interestingly, the BJP-Shiv Sena government went against that High court order and continued with reservation for Marathas.

The new government of Maharashtra has expressed helplessness saying that the ordinance died a natural death. But it is the responsibility of the government to re-enact an ordinance or convert it into a law. It was a deliberate failure on the part of the government. However, this is expected of the BJP which believes in communal and vindictive politics. The decision was taken only to hurt Muslims.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect our official policy or position. This article first appeared on DailyO.in.

#Beefban: Haryana govt to introduce Bill on banning cow slaughter

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Photo: IE

Photo: IE

Chandigarh: Haryana Agriculture Minister Om Parkash Dhankar today said that the state is all set to introduce a Bill for “protection and upkeep” of cows in Budget Session of the Assembly beginning tomorrow.

In the proposed ‘Govansh Sanrakashan and Gau Samvardhan (Cow Protection and Cow Conservation and Development) Bill’ efforts will be made to ban cow slaughter and for conservation and better care of indigenous cattle, he said.

“For the scientific test and analysis, government is considering to establish laboratories to differentiate beef from meat of that of other animal species. Test reports of these laboratories will be valid evidence in the court of law,” Dhankar said adding that sale of packaged beef has been banned in the state.

The minister noted that there were some 3,000 cows in the state in 400 cow shelters run by NGOs. Besides, some 1.5 lakh cows roam in fields or streets.

He said that the existing cow sheds will be upgraded and made self-sufficient.

“Special efforts will be taken for availability of Beta Carotene and A-2 milk protein in the milk of indigenous cows which are beneficial for control of diabetes and cholesterol in human beings and also known for better digestibility.

“The focus will also be on establishing a brand for the milk of indigenous cows and ensuring A-2 milk at remunerative prices,” Dhankar said.

The state will provide financial and technical support to cow welfare organisations like Gaushalas, Gau-Grah, Gau-Abhyaranya, Gau-Sadan, Gokul Gram that are engaged in maintenance and care of sick, injured, stray and uneconomic cows, he said.

“The government will take necessary steps to provide incentives for marketing and processing of milk from indigenous cows,” he added.

(PTI)

Chennai: Lawyers hold 'beef eating' protest

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beef-protest-lawyers

Chennai: A group of lawyers staged a ‘beef eating’ protest in the Madras High Court campus here, dubbing it as a ‘pre-emptive’ measure in the wake of ban on cow slaughter by Maharashtra Government.

Though there was no law in force banning cow slaughter in Tamil Nadu, the protesting lawyers said they were condemning the Maharashtra law banning cow slaughter, transportation and even possession of beef.

Hindu Munnani leader Ramagopalan had demanded that Tamil Nadu should follow Maharashtra and enact a similar law.

Lawyers said they apprehended that the state government might listen to the Hindu Munnani leader. Hence they held the protest as a preemptive measure.

(PTI)

After beef ban, Maharashtra government scraps quota for Muslims

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Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis with PM Narendra Modi. Photo: PTI

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis with PM Narendra Modi. Photo: PTI

Mumbai: Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in Maharashtra has scrapped an ordinance providing reservation for Muslims, despite the Bombay High Court allowing quota for the community in educational institutions.

“An ordinance to this effect (providing a five per cent job quota) lapsed on December 23 last year,” a Maharashtra government resolution said.

“Considering this fact, the concerned government resolution issued on July 24 last year is being scrapped,” the government resolution said. In June last year, Maharashtra’s earlier Congress-NCP government had approved a 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and a five per cent for Muslims just ahead of the October 15 Assembly polls, after the Congress was routed in the general elections.

The quota was given through two separate categories,namely the Educationally and Socially Backward Category (ESBC) for Marathas as well as a Special Backward Class (Muslims) segment for the Muslims.

On November 14, 2014, the Bombay High Court had stayed implementation of the decision of the erstwhile Congress-NCP government to provide 16 per cent reservations for Marathas in jobs and education, which was announced just ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The court had also stayed the Maharashtra state’s decision to provide a five per cent job reservation to Muslims in government service, but it allowed quotas for them in educational institutions. The Maharashtra state government had challenged the Bombay High Court order in the Supreme Court, which refused to interfere with the interim decision of the High Court but asked the Maharashtra state government to go back to the Bombay High Court on the issue.

On January 5, this year, the Bombay High Court gave three weeks to the Maharashtra state government to file an affidavit submitting data to justify its decision to provide reservations to Marathas and Muslims in jobs as well as educational institutions.

Earlier, the Bombay High Court had said that the Supreme Court had already laid down the law for reservation as per which it cannot exceed 50 per cent of the total seats. In fact, 52 per cent of seats in government jobs and educational institutions are already reserved for targeted groups.

However, in the run up to the Maharashtra Assembly poll,the erstwhile Congress-NCP government had raised reservations to 73 per cent by announcing a 16 per cent quota for Marathas and a five per cent quota for Muslims.

(Agencies)

Beef banned in Maharashtra, receives President's assent

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The slaughter of cows was previously prohibited in the state under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act of 1976. Photo: IE

The slaughter of cows was previously prohibited in the state under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act of 1976. Photo: IE

Mumbai: The bill banning cow slaughter in Maharashtra, pending for several years, on Monday received the President’s assent, which means red meat lovers in the state will have to do without beef.

This measure has taken almost twenty years to materialize and was initiated during the previous Sena-BJP government.The bill was  first submitted to the President for approval on January 30, 1996. However, subsequent governments at the Centre, including the BJP led NDA stalled it and did not seek the President’s consent.

A delegation of seven state BJP MPs led by Kirit Somaiya, (MP from Mumbai North) had met the President in New Delhi recently and submitted a memorandum seeking assent to the bill. The memorandum said that the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995, passed during the previous Shiv Sena-BJP regime, was pending for approval for 19 years.

“Thanks a lot honourable President sir for the assent on Maharashtra Animal Preservation Bill. Our dream of ban on cow-slaughter becomes reality now,” chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Twitter. A delegation of seven state BJP MPs had met the President recently and submitted a memorandum.

The law will ban beef from the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, which was previously allowed based on a fit-for-slaughter certificate, according to The Indian Express. The new Act will, however, allow the slaughter of water buffaloes.

The punishment for the sale of beef or possession of it could be prison for five years with an additional fine of Rs 10,000. “Apart from rendering people jobless, the immediate effect will be the spiralling price of other meats as people will be forced to gravitate to them,” Indian Express quoted president of the Mumbai Suburban Beef Dealer Association Mohammed Qureshi as saying.

Reuters had earlier reported that Hindu nationalists in India had stepped up attacks on the country’s beef industry, seizing trucks with cattle bound for abattoirs and blockading meat processing plants in a bid to halt the trade in the world’s second-biggest exporter of beef.

An official at a beef transport group in Maharashtra state said around 10 vehicles travelling to Mumbai had been stopped in the last week of February, the animals taken forcefully and drivers beaten up by members of Hindu nationalist groups despite carrying valid documents.

However, a BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told The Hindu that the party’s efforts to seek a ban on slaughter of calves should not be viewed with a communal lens but keeping in mind the “interests of agrarian communities.

 (With inputs from Reuters)

13 Solapur Muslim men acquitted from terror charges after 12 years

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arrest

Solapur: Thirteen persons, who were termed accused in a 2003 terror case under sections of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), were acquitted by a session court here.

They were booked under the various sections of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in a 2003 terror case. However, it is an irony that they were absolved of all charges after undergoing 11 long year’s ordeal.

Solapur Session Court Judge N N Dhend acquitted all the 13 accused for want of evidence as they were arrested by Maharashtra police on August 8, 2003 on the charges of plotting to make crude bombs for explosion. Police had allegedly recovered a small amount of explosive material from some of the accused. Soon after their arrest, police had invoked sections of POTA in the case. All the accused were released on bail after spending six months behind bars. Police produced 62 witnesses in the case but prosecution examined only 14 of them. However, all the witnesses were declared hostile by the court.

It is to mention here that the previous UPA government had scrapped dreaded law POTA in 2004 but not with retrospective effect. Because of this, many innocents have been languishing in jails.

Those, who got absolved of all charges, are Farooq Tabeeb, Imaan Nadaf, Hamid Mulla, Mahboob Daula, Anwar Shaikh, Mansoor Shaikh, Ghulam Shaikh, Mudassir Shaikh, Ibrahim Momin, Mubin Shaikh, Yaqub Saudagar, Jabbar Shaikh, and Rahman Shaikh.

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