HC allows slaughter of animals and annual Urs of shrine in Maharashtra
Mumbai, June 3 (UNI) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday allowed animal slaughter and celebration of annual Urs (festival that commemorates the death anniversary of a saint, typically held at their dargah ,shrine or tomb) of the shrine at Vishalgad Fort in Kolhapur, saying certain conditions should be strictly complied with during the slaughter of animals on the occasion of Bakr Id.
A vacation bench of Justices Neela K Gokhale and Firdosh P Pooniwalla passed an order during the hearing of an interim application by Hazrat Peer Malik Rehan Dargah Trust, seeking permission for slaughtering animals on the specific dates.
While permitting animal slaughter for Bakri Eid on June 7 and the four-day Urs from June 8 to 12 at the dargah bench clarified that the order shall apply to the petitioners as well as the dargah devotees who come there to sacrifice animals on the said days.
The trust had filed an interim application in its writ plea challenging various communications issued by the director of archaeology and museums, the superintendent of police, Kolhapur, and the chief executive officer of the Kolhapur Zilla Parishad seeking a ban on slaughtering of animals and birds at Vishalgad in Shahuwadi Taluka.
The authorities had claimed that the slaughtering of animals was taking place at a protected monument, and as per Maharashtra Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1962, there was a prohibition to cook and consume food in the fort premises.
However, the petitioner trust, had argued that the dargah within the fort precincts was a historical monument constructed in the 11th century and is visited and revered by both Hindus and Muslims. The trust claimed that while the animal sacrifice at the dargah was an 'integral custom', the actual sacrifice does not take place in a public place but behind closed doors on private land nearly 1.4 km away from the fort.
The lawyers argued that the offerings are served to pilgrims and others at the dargah and have been a source of food to many poor people residing in the surrounding villages of the fort.
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