Gauhati High Court quashes Nagaland government’s ban on dog meat
The Hindu
The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court has quashed a three-year-old Nagaland government order that put a blanket ban on the commercial import, trading of dogs and sale of dog meat in markets and dine-in restaurants.
GUWAHATI
The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court has quashed a three-year-old Nagaland government order that put a blanket ban on the commercial import, trading of dogs and sale of dog meat in markets and dine-in restaurants.
The judgement was passed on June 2 after Justice Marli Vankun heard a petition by three persons who supplied and sold dog and dog meat in Nagaland before the ban was enforced via the notification on July 4, 2020.
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The respondents included Nagaland’s Chief Secretary, Food Safety Commissioner and the Department of Health and Family Welfare, the Kohima Municipal Council, People For Animals and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The court observed that the main issue for consideration was whether the State government rightly issued the impugned notification in pursuance of an August 6, 2014, circular from the FSSAI citing the definition of ‘animals’, ‘carcass’, and ‘meat’ under a relevant regulation of 2011.
The court pointed out that canine or dogs have not been mentioned under the definition of ‘animals’ and said it was “not surprising” since the “very idea of consuming dog meat is alien” to the country barring some parts of the northeast.
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