Ban on cow slaughter: 99.38% Indians now live in areas under cow-protection laws

Image used for representational purpose only. Reuters[/caption]1977-1979: After a gap of eight years, the enactment of cow protection laws saw a resurgence when the Janata Party, with its Hindu nationalist elements from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (which later formed the BJP), came to power in 1977 and served a two-year tenure at the country’s helm. Laws came into force in the UTs of Goa and Daman and Diu and the state of Himachal Pradesh under a Janata Party government and Andhra Pradesh under Congress rule. Maharashtra, also under a Congress government, strengthened its cow protection law, replacing the Bombay Animal Preservation Act 1954 in force till then.1994 to present: Coinciding with a spike in communal conflict across the country in the early 1990s, the promulgation of cow protection laws restarted in 1994, with the introduction of the Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act. The law made cow slaughter punishable with a five-year prison term and a fine of Rs 10,000–the strictest of its time after Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, cow protection laws have been enacted and amended in 11 states and UTs, prescribing stricter punishment in 10 of these barring Sikkim (where restrictions and punishment are among the mildest). Nine of these states were ruled by the BJP at the time of enactment or amendment.In 12 states, cow slaughter can lead to a prison term ranging from two to 14 yearsPrior to Gujarat’s recent amendment, the Muslim-dominated state of Jammu and Kashmir had the most stringent punishment for cow slaughter. The law was instituted in 1932 under the Ranbir Penal Code, the code introduced during the reign of the Dogra ruler Ranbir Singh, which still applies in Jammu and Kashmir.

This law makes cow slaughter a cognisable and non-bailable offence punishable with up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a penalty of up to five times the value of the bovine killed. Cows are estimated to cost lakhs in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Jharkhand and Uttarakhand too, cow slaughter is punishable with a maximum sentence of 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment, but a lower fine of Rs 10,000.

While cow slaughter is banned in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Tripura, as mentioned in the DAHD document, there is limited information publicly available about their laws.