Allahabad High Court has said the law preventing cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh is “misused against innocent persons” and that many people languish in jail for “an offence that may not have been committed at all”.

The court on October 19 made the observation while hearing the bail plea of Rahmuddin, a resident of the Thana Bhavan area of Shamli district who had been arrested on the charge of cow slaughter, which is banned in the state.

Although the police had accused Rahmuddin of possessing beef, they did not send samples of the meat for a forensic exam. Rahmuddin challenged his August 5 arrest and pointed out that there was no proof that he had been in possession of cow meat. He was granted bail.

While hearing the case, the single-judge bench of Justice Siddharth said: “There is no allegation against the applicant in the FIR.”

“The (Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter) Act is being misused against innocent persons. Whenever any meat is recovered, it is normally shown as cow meat (beef) without getting it examined or analysed by a forensic laboratory. In most of these cases, the meat is not sent for analysis. The accused persons continue to be in jail for an offence that may not have been committed at all,” the court said.

The maximum punishment for cow slaughter is seven years in jail.

The high court also pointed to the shoddy treatment meted out to cows in a state whose government swears by “gau mata”.

“Whenever cows are shown to be recovered, no proper recovery memo is prepared and one does not know where cows go after recovery. Goshalas do not accept non-milching or old cows and they are left to wander on the roads,” the court noted.

The state government claims to have opened cowsheds in every district but reports of cows being abandoned and dying of starvation are not uncommon in Uttar Pradesh.

The court observed: “…The owners of cows, after milking, leave them to roam on roads, to drink drainage/sewer water and eat garbage, polythene, etc. Moreover, cows and cattle on the road are a menace to the traffic and a number of deaths have been reported due to this.”

It continued: “In the rural areas, cattle owners who are unable to feed their livestock abandon them…. There are no pastures now. Thus, these animals wander here and there, destroying crops. Earlier, farmers were afraid of ‘Neelgai (antelope)’. Now, they have to save their crops from stray cows (too). Whether cows are on roads or on fields, their abandonment adversely affects the society in a big way.”

The court hoped that the government would solve the problem.

“Some way out has to be found to keep them either in cow shelters or with the owners, if the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act is to be implemented in letter and spirit,” Justice Siddharth said.