Karnataka’s BJP government on Monday decided on the ordinance route to enforce a contentious bill against cattle slaughter after twice being thwarted from tabling it in the legislative council by its Congress chairman.

The ordinance, which widens the slaughter ban to cover bulls and oxen and stiffens the punishment, is expected to be sent for the governor’s assent in a couple of days.

While the government had passed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill 2020 with hardly any discussion in the Assembly on December 9, Council chairman Pratapchandra Shetty had adjourned his House before it could be tabled.

After the government convened a one-day session of the Council on December 15, BJP members first tried to pass a no-confidence motion against Shetty, triggering mayhem. Amid the chaos, Shetty adjourned the House again, denying the government a chance to table the bill.

The government lacks the numbers in the Council, anyway.

The new law will replace the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964, which prohibits the slaughter of cows, female buffalo and calves of both species and sexes as well as import and sale of their meat. The new law prohibits the slaughter of cows, oxen, bulls and all calves and bans import and sale of their meat.

It, however, allows the slaughter of both male and female buffalo if certified to be older than 13 — a point law minister J.C. Madhuswamy flagged to claim there would not be a total “ban on beef”.

The definition of “beef” in standard dictionaries covers the meat of cows, bulls and oxen but not that of buffalo. However, buffalo meat is “beef” in common parlance in Karnataka and many other parts of the country.

Meat traders have already cited the shortage of buffalo in the southern states, unlike the north where they are rampant.

The new law provides for jail terms of three to seven years, a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh, or both for the first offence.

Subsequent offences can bring jail for up to seven years, a fine between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, or both.

The existing law prescribes a jail term of up to six months, a fine of up to Rs 1,000, or both.

Animal husbandry minister Prabhu Chauhan cited a 2019 cattle census to argue the new law had become necessary.

He said 662 heads of cattle were being slaughtered every day in Karnataka “and a day won’t be far away when we’ll read about cows only in books”.

Before tabling the bill in the Assembly, Chauhan had travelled to Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, two BJP-ruled states where similar laws are in force.