Supreme Court issues notice over Maharashtra government’s beef ban

There seems to be no relief for the Maharashtra government when it comes to the beef ban issue. Today, the Supreme Court of India’s AK Sikri and DY Chandrachud JJ. issued notice in a batch of petitions connected to the controversial ban..Former ASG, Indira Jaising appeared for activist Swatija Paranjape, who has claimed that the ban violates the right to choose the food a person consumes. Her plea to scrap the beef ban is seconded by the Qureshi community, who claim that the ban has had disastrous consequences for their livelihood..They had requested the Court to refer the Qureshi judgment to a 7-judge bench. However, this plea was not entertained..The two mentioned above were not the only parties before the Supreme Court today. Venkat Ramani appeared for animal rights activist Chetan Sharma, while senior counsel Gopal Jain for the Vardhaman Parivar. Senior Advocate Indu Malhotra appeared for the Ekta Foundation..Animal rights activists have claimed that the Qureshi judgment, in which Section 5(d) and 9(b) of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act were struck down, has been ineffective in curbing animal slaughter. They argued that the Qureshi judgment had the effect of allowing beef to be brought in from outside the State, and have therefore sought an overruling of the Bombay High Court’s decision.