Bombay High Court, Bakrid
The Bombay High Court on Friday allowed the sacrifice of animals on Bakrid and Urs (anniversary) at a Dargah located within the precincts of the Vishalgad Fort of Kolhapur district in Maharashtra [Hajrat Peer Malik Rehan Mira Saheb Dargah v. State of Maharashtra & Ors].
A Division Bench of Justices BP Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla passed the order on a petition moved by the Hajrat Peer Malik Rehan Mira Saheb Dargah, a registered Trust.
The petitioner had challenged the communication issued by the Deputy Director of Archaeology and Museums to the District Collector of Kolhapur imposing a ban on animal slaughter in the Vishalgad Fort area.
The Trust sought permission to continue with its age-old practice of sacrificing animals at the Dargah on the occasion of Bakrid or Eid-ul-Adha and the four-day Urs beginning from June 17 to 21 at the fort.
Advocates SB Talekar and Madhavi Ayyapan, appearing for the Trust, submitted that several rightwing outfits had recently started to spoil the communal atmosphere and social harmony in the area by creating conflict and a feeling of hatred among two communities for political gains.
It was also argued that the practice of animal sacrifice for cooking and consumption of food in closed premises was neither banned nor objected to by anyone for years.
The plea challenged communications which banned animal sacrifices on the ground that there is a ban on cooking food in the protected area near the monument as per the Maharashtra Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act.
The authorities had purportedly taken the decision on the basis of a 1998 judgment of the High Court’s Aurangabad Bench which held that animal sacrifice in the name of gods and goddesses in public places was strictly prohibited.
However, the Trust before the Court argued that animal sacrifice was an “age-old practice” and that actual sacrifice took place behind closed doors on private land, nearly 1.4 kilometers away from the fort.
These offerings were served to pilgrims and others at the Dargah and were a source of food for people living in the nearby villages of the fort, it was submitted.