To preserve sanctity of river Ganga, banning meat shops within 500 meters from riverbank Constitutional: Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court recently observed that keeping in view the special status of Uttarakhand and to preserve the sanctity attached to the river Ganga by a majority of the population in the State, banning meat shops from operating within 500 metres of its riverbank is in tune with the Constitutional scheme..Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra held that the decision of the Zila Panchayat to deny licenses to shops that butcher and sell meat within the area is in line with the scheme of the Constitution of India.“At the same time, keeping in view the special status of State of Uttarakhand and the river Ganga that emerges from District Uttarkashi and the sanctity attached with the river Ganga by majority of population of Uttarakhand, the decision taken by the Zila Panchayat by making by-laws to the effect that no shop for butchering the animals and selling the meat within 500 metres from the bank of river Ganga appears in line with the scheme of Constitution of India, as envisaged in Part IX. Hence, this Court is of the view that respondent no. 2, District Magistrate, Uttarkashi has not committed any error in not issuing no objection certificate to the petitioner to run a mutton shop within 500 metres from the bank of river Ganga,” the court said in its judgment..The Court was considering a plea challenging the decision of a District Magistrate refusing to grant a no objection certificate to the petitioner for continuing to operate a mutton shop from his house which was situated 105 m from the banks of the river Ganga.The petitioner claimed that he had been running the shop since 2006 but in 2016, he received a notice from the Zila Panchayat, Uttarkashi to shift his shop within 7 days as it was violative of some by-laws which prohibit meat shops within a 500 meter radius from the riverbank.It was contended that after the Food Safety and Standard (FSS)Act, 2016 was enacted , the jurisdiction of the Zila Panchayat has ceased to operate and it has no authority to grant or reject a license for running the petitioner’s shop.Therefore, he sought orders setting aside the order of the District Magistrate and declaring that the FSS Act, 2006 shall have an overriding effect on the by-laws issued by the Zila Panchayat..However, the Court noted that Zila Panchayats have been granted powers to act as institutions of self-government as per Article 243 (Part IX) of the Constitution of India.The provisions made by Zila Panchayat has to be harmoniously construed with the provisions of the FSS Act, the Court opined.In the instant case, the Court was of the view that it is mandatory to obtain a no objection certificate from the Zila Panchayat or the District Magistrate for running the mutton shop.“It is observed that any person, who runs a meat shop for selling and butchering the animals in District Uttarkashi, shall obtain no objection certificate from the concerned authority, in the light of by-laws made by the Zila Panchayat and also obtain a license from the designated authority,” the Court said as it dismissed the plea..Advocate Jitendra Chaudhary represented the petitioner. Additional CSC Yogesh Pandey appeared for the respondent State of Uttarakhand..[Read Judgment]