A Hyderabad high court judge declared the cow as a symbol of motherhood and “sacred national wealth”, and suggested that killing or injuring the animal be made a non-bailable offence.
This is the second instance of a judicial officer seeking stringent punishment against those guilty of cow slaughter in the last fifteen days. On May 31, Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma of the Rajasthan high court had recommended life imprisonment for such offenders.
In this case, Justice B Siva Sankara Rao sought that Section 429 (mischief by maiming and killing cattle) of the Indian Penal Code be amended to make cow slaughter a non-bailable offence.
He also wanted the Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Cow Slaughter and Animals Preservation Act-1977 suitably amended to ensure that veterinary doctors who fraudulently certify healthy cattle as “old and suitable for slaughter” are punished.
The judge made these observations while dismissing an appeal by a cattle trader who wanted the Nalgonda police to return 63 cows and two bulls seized from his residence at Kanchanapalli village in February.
