Supreme court directions for Slaughter houses WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO(s). 309 OF 2003

   S U P R E M E   C O U R T   O F   I N D I A

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO(s). 309 OF 2003

LAXMI NARAIN MODI                                                                                    Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

UNION OF INDIA & ORS.                                                         Respondent(s)

(With appln(s) for directions, permission to file rejoinder affidavit, permission to file additional documents, permission to file additional affidavit, permission to file submissions and office report)

WITH W.P(C) NO. 330 of 2001

(With appln(s) for directions)

W.P(C) NO. 44 of 2004

(With appln(s) for directions, exemption from filing O.T.)

W.P(C) NO. 688 of 2007(With appln(s) for stay)

Date: 23/08/2012  These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.S. RADHAKRISHNANHON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DIPAK MISRA

For Petitioner(s)                      Mr. Pranab Kumar Mullick,Adv.

                                                Ms. Purnima Bhat, Adv.

                                                Mr. C.D. Singh, Adv.

For Respondent(s)                 

Mr. Sidharth Luthra,AS                                     Mr. T.S. Doabia,Sr.Adv.

               Ms. Sunita Sharma,Adv.

                                                 Ms. Kiran Bhardwaj,Adv.

Mr. D.S. Mahra,Adv.

                                                            Mr. A. Deb Kumar,Adv.

                                                            Mrs. Sushma Suri,Adv.

                                                            Ms. Asha G. Nair,Adv.

                                                            Ms. Gunwant,Adv.

                                                            Mr. B.V. Balramdas,Adv.

                                                            Mr. Ranjit Kumar,Sr.Adv.

                        Mr. S. Chopra,Adv.

                                                            Mr. Aditya Singhal,Adv.

                                                            Mr. Shiv Pandy,Adv.

                                                            Mr. Vikas Malhotra,Adv.

                                                            Mr. D.L. Chiddanand,Adv.

                                                            Mr. B.K. Prasad,Adv.

                                                            Mr. Wasim A. Qadri,Adv                                                            Mr. Pranab Kumar Mullick,Adv.

                                                Ms. Soma Mullick,Adv.

Mr. Raj Panjwani,Sr.Adv.

Ms. Purnima Bhat,Adv.

Mr. Anil Grover,AAG, Punjab

Ms. Noopur Singhal,Adv.

Mr. Manjit Singh,AAG, Haryana

Mr. Kamal Mohan Gupta,Adv.

Dr. Manish Singhvi,AAG, Rajasthan

Mr. Irshad Ahmad,Adv.

Mr. Anjani Kumar Dubey,Adv.

Mr. Pragyan P. Sharma,Adv.

Mr. Rupesh Gupta,Adv.

Ms. Mandakini Sharma,Adv.

Mr. Gautam Dhamija,Adv.

Mr. P.V. Yogeswaran,Adv.

Mr. Surendra Kr. Maurya,Adv.

Mr. Gopal Singh,Adv.

Mr. Manish Kumar,Adv.

Mr. Chandan Kumar,Adv.

Mr. Abhijit Sengupta,Adv.

Mr. B.P. Yadav,Adv.

Mr. Faisal M.,Adv.

Mr. Pragyan Sharma,Adv.

Mr. Heshu Kayina,Adv.

                                               Mr. Vikas Upadhyay,Adv.

Mr. B.S. Banthia,Adv.

Mr. Pradeep Misra,Adv.

Mr. Daleep Kumar Dhuani,Adv.

Mr. Suraj Singh,Adv.

Ms. Aruna Mathur,Adv.

Mr. Yusuf Khan,Adv.

Ms. Movita,Adv.

Mr. Vikas Bansal,Adv.

Ms. Vibha Datta Makhija,Adv.

Mr. Shibashish Misra,Adv.

Mr. Ahbinandan Nanda,Adv

Mr. Riku Sarma,Adv.

Mr. Navnit Kumar,Adv.

For M/s. Corporate Law Group

Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee,Adv.

Mr. S. Bhowmick,Adv.

Mr. S.C. Ghosh,Adv.

Ms. Hemantika Wahi,Adv.

Ms. Nandani Gupta,Adv.

Mr. Vijay Panjwani,Adv.

Mr. Atul Jha,Adv.

Mr. Sandeep Jha,Adv.

Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sinha,Adv.

Mr. Rajesh Srivastava,Adv.

Mr. Gopal Prasad,Adv.

Mr. S.K. Singh,Adv.

Mr. Vivek Vishnoi,Adv.

Mr. Gaurav Agarwal,Adv.

Mr. M.R. Shamshad,Adv.

Mr. Anil Shrivastav,Adv.

Mr. Rituraj Biswas,Adv.

Mr. Mukesh K. Giri,Adv.

Mr. Dilip Kumar Sharma,Adv.

Mr. Shiv Prakash Pandey,Adv.

Mr. Rajeev K. Dubey,Adv.

Mr. G.V. Rao,Adv.

Mr. Sunil Fernandes,Adv.

Ms. Vernika Tomar,Adv.

Mr. Shashank K. Lal,Adv.

Mr. Nikhil Nayyar,Adv.

Mr. T.V.S. Raghavendra Sreyas,Adv.

Ms. Pritha Srikumar,Adv.

Mr. Shekhar Raj Sharma,Adv.

Ms. Alka Sinha,Adv.

Mr. Anuvrat Sharma,Adv.

Mr. P. Parmeswaran,Adv

Mr. Pradeep Misra,Adv

Mr. Tara Chandra Sharma,Adv

Mr. R. Ayyam Perumal,Adv

Mr. V.G. Pragasam,Adv

Mr. V.K. Verma,Adv

Mr. Anil Shrivastav,Adv

Mr. Nikhil Nayyar,Adv

Mr. P.V. Dinesh,Adv

Mr. Ashok K. Srivastava,Adv.

Mr. L.C. Agrawala,Adv.

Mr. Punit Dutt Tyagi,Adv.

Ms. Kamini Jaiswal,Adv.

Mr. Abhijat P. Medh,Adv.

Mr. Sanjay R. Hegde,Adv.

Mr. Arun K. Sinha,Adv.

Mr. Khwairakpam Nobin Singh,Adv.

Mr. T.V. Ratnam,Adv.

Ms. Sumita Hazarika,Adv.

Mr. Mohanprasad Meharia,Adv.

Mr. Anil Srivasava,Adv.

Mr. T.V. George,Adv.

M/s. Arputham, Aruna & Co.,Advs.

Mr. Aruneshwar Gupta,Adv.

Mr. K.R. Sasiprabhu,Adv.

Mr. Rajesh Srivastava,Adv.

Mrs. B. Sunita Rao,Adv.

Mr. Naresh K. Sharma,Adv.

Mr. Ajay Pal,Adv.

Mrs. Manik Karanjawala,Adv.

           UPON hearing counsel the Court made the following

O R D E R

These writ petitions have been preferred in public interest seeking various directions to the State Governments as  well as to the Union of  India,  Ministry  of  Environment  and  Forest, Animal Welfare Board of India and other statutory authorities to effectively  implement  the  provisions  of  the  Prevention  of Cruelty to Animals (Establishment and Registration of  Societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Rules, 2000 and  also  the provisions of Environment  Protection  Act,  1986,  Schedule  I, Entry 50 and also Solid Wastes  (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 etc. Further, direction is also sought to ensure that the animals meant for slaughter are not transported in violation of Transport of Animals Rule, 1978 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Transport on Foot) Rules, 2000.  

Further, prayers  have also been made to ensure that the  recognized  slaughter  houses are in conformity with  the  provisions  of  the  Prevention  of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2000  and  also  for other consequential reliefs. A detailed affidavit has been filed by the Central Pollution Control Board (for short CPCB) as early as in October, 2003 wherein they have categorically stated as follows: 

The CPCB is of the view that the slaughter houses generate            substantial quantities of effluents and solid wastes. These slaughter houses causes nuisance by way of foul smell due to improper handling.  It is, therefore, necessary that these units should install pollution control devices so that they can comply with the prescribed standards.  Further, it was stated that the existing slaughter houses need  to  modernize  their  operations with  greater  emphasis  of  utilization  of  waste  to   reduce            environmental problems and to maintain hygienic conditions. It is also pointed out that most of the  slaughter  houses  in  the country are very old and operate without basic amenities such as proper flooring, water supply, ventilation etc., and there is no need to upgrade old slaughter houses on modern lines. Therefore, the CPBC submitted that all the slaughter houses in the country should comply with the prescribed standards. The local municipal agencies and concerned police should ensure that no illegal slaughtering takes place and also the units conform to the standards set by the State Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees.

This Court has passed various  orders  alerting  the  State Governments  to  properly  implement  the   various   provisions referred to hereinbefore but still no effective steps have  been taken by various States either to constitute  Committees or  to see that the slaughter houses are functioning in accordance with the rules framed. The matters have again come up for hearing today.

Learned  senior  counsel  appearing  for  the  Ministry  of Environment  and  Forest  (MoEF)  brought  to  our  knowledge  a  decision taken by the MoEF under the Chairmanship of  Secretary, Ministry of  Environment  and  Forest  on  26.04.2012. In the meeting, the CPCB has presented its status of 15 States whereas the Ministry of Labour gave a status of 20 States and the action            plan was also discussed. 

After examining the matter in depth by the Committee,  they found  the  necessity  of  constituting  State   Committee   for slaughter houses to fulfill the mandatory requirements under the various  legislations  dealing  with  the  functioning  of   the slaughter  houses  in  the  country.   The  decision  of   dated 26.04.2012 is extracted hereunder for easy reference:-

"1.     CPCB will  write  to  all  States  informing  about its guidelines for slaughter houses.                                         [Action: CPCB)

2.      CPCB will also  initiate  action  against  all  slaughter houses which are not meeting the  norms  and  implement  the  abattoir rules through SPCB.  It was discussed that SPCB even has powers to close slaughter houses under these rules.                                        [Action: CPCB)

3.      States to be requested to constitute State Committee for Slaughter Houses as follows:

i)       Secretary of the Department of Urban envelopment of the State-Chairman.

ii)      Rep. Department of Health.

iii)      Rep. Department of Animal Husbandry.

iv)     Rep. Department of Labour.

v)      Food Safety Commissioner representing Central Food Safety and Standard Authority of India.

vi)     Rep. State Pollution Control Board.

vii)     Rep. State Animal Welfare Board.

viii)    Rep. of State Police

ix)     2 prominent persons nominated by state government.

x)      Such other officers and experts as the members may choose to co-opt.

4.      Functions of the State Committee for Slaughter Houses so constituted may be as following:

i)       to identify and prepare a  list  of  all  the  Slaughter Houses  (S.H.s)  located  within  the   local   self   Govt. (Municipal Corporations, Panchayats etc.)

ii)      to call for reports from the District Magistrate or the Dy. Commissioner and District Food Safety Inspector  as  the case may be on the condition/functioning of  the  S.H.s  and also on the compliance of the relevant applicable laws.

iii)      to recommend modernization of  old  slaughter  houses (S.H.s) and to relocate S.H.s which are located within or in close proximity of a residential area.

iv)     to recommend  appropriate  measures  for  dealing  with solid waste, water/air pollution and for preventing  cruelty to the animals meant for slaughter.

v)      to carry out surprise  &  random  inspections  of  S.H.s   regularly and to issue  directions  for  compliance  of the   recommendations that may be made by it.

vi)     to send bi-annual reports on the  state  S.H.s  to  the Central Committee and  to  refer  issues  that  may  require Central   Committee   recommendations   or Central   Govt. assistance.

vii)     to accord final approval for  licensing  of  S.H.S  to   Local Self Govt. 

viii)    to identify  on  an  ongoing  basis,  the  unlicensed   slaughter  houses  in  the  region,  and  other unlicensed, unlawful establishments where animals are being slaughtered, on howsoever a  small  scale,  and  take  the  help  of  the District Magistrate and other law  enforcement  agencies  to crack down on the same.

viii)    To check for child labour.

         [Action: AWD)"

Learned counsel appearing for the petitioners also  pointed out  the  necessity  of  including  the  Secretary,  Local  Self Government as well as  the  Secretary,  Panchayat  Raj  also  as Committee Members for effective implementation  of  the  various legislations.

Further, it was also  pointed  out  that  even  though  the decision was taken by  the  MoEF  on  26.04.2012  the  same  was forwarded to various State Governments only on 2.7.2012  and  so far no effective steps have been taken by the State  Governments to constitute the  Committee  and  to  take  further  follow  up action.  The functions to be discharged by such Committees have also been dealt with in the meeting held on 26.04.2012 for proper implementation. The early constitution of the committees is, therefore, highly necessary for proper and speedy implementation of the rules under the various enactments.

In such circumstances, we are inclined to give direction to all  the  State  Governments  and  the  Union   Territories   to constitute  the  State  Committees  for  slaughters  houses,  as decided  in  the  meeting  held  on  26.04.2012,  including  the Secretary, Local Self Government as well as Secretary, Panchayat Raj as Members of the  Committee  over  and  above  the  Members already mentioned.

Since the matter is pending in this Court for a  number  of years,  we  are  inclined  to  give  directions  to  the   State Governments  and  the  Union  Territories  to   constitute   the Committees within a period of one month and  report  compliance.

Further,  we  also  direct  CPCB  to  write  to  all  the  State Governments informing about the guidelines for slaughter  houses as well as to initiate action against all slaughter houses which are not meeting the  norms  and  implement  the  abattoir  rules through State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).

The CPCB will initiate steps within a period of two weeks from today.  The CPCB is also directed to submit its report within a period of one month.

               List the matters after six weeks on a non-miscellaneous day.

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