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Article 48 of the Indian Constitution lays down the fundamental principles governing the protection of cows and calves. It states that the State should take every step to organise agriculture and animal husbandry in a contemporary and scientific manner, with a focus on maintaining and developing breeds, as well as preventing the killing of cows, calves, and other milch and draught livestock. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at Article 48 of the Indian Constitution.
Constitutional Provisions that focuses on animal welfare and animal rights
Part IV of the Indian Constitution deals with the Directive Principles of State Policy. Article 48 and 48A come under Part IV of the Indian Constitution. Directive principles of state policy mean the ideal that the state should strive to achieve. Article 48 of the Indian Constitution talks about the welfare of animals and their protection against cruelty. The article states that the state should endeavour to protect and improve the environment and prevent animal cruelty.
Article 48A of the Indian Constitution deals with factory farming. The article prohibits the use of animals for the purpose of slaughter in a factory farm. Factory farming is defined as an agricultural undertaking where more than 1000 animals are kept. The article also prohibits the use of animals for experiments on a factory farm.
How Article 48 was incorporated under the Indian Constitution?
In the year 1947, public conventions reported that the Constitution of India provides for the policy to protect cow slaughtering. Gradually, a league was formed to protect the cows, and subsequently, in favour of the economic interest of the country, August 4 was declared as the national Cow Day. Later, various organisations of our country like All India Swarajya Singh, Ahmedabad Bullion Association, and the state assemblies passed anti-cow slaughtering resolutions. The matter became controversial and went to the Constituent Assembly, the president, Dr Rajendra Prasad then decided to consider the safeguarding of cows as a fundamental right.
The Drafting Committee was formed to consider this matter which was headed by Br. B.R Ambedkar. He opined that fundamental rights are only for the citizens of India and human beings. Article 48, if included under fundamental rights the other community people will have to follow it against their will. Hence Article 48 shall not be included under the fundamental right.
Hence, Article 48 was made part of Directive Principles of State Policy under Part IV of the Indian Constitution.
State role in the enactment of Article 48 of the Indian Constitution.
The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution talks about the lists of matter to be governed by the centre, state, and concurrent list. Entry 15 of the State list gives power to the state legislature to make laws for the protection of cattle and cow-slaughtering. Hence, different states have enacted different laws depending upon the circumstances for safeguarding cow- slaughter in India.
Judicial Pronouncement on Article 48 of the Indian Constitution.
There are several case laws based on Article 48 of the Indian Constitution. Some of them are mentioned below:
Abdul Hakim Qureshi v. the State of Bihar (1961)
In this case, the petitioner contended that the complete ban of cow slaughter in the state of Bihar, U.P, and Madhya Pradesh, the government has infringed Article 25 of the non- Hindu community. During the time of Bakr-id, Muslims are allowed to sacrifice cows as per their religious norms. The Supreme Court went to the lines of Quran and Hidaya and held that it is not compulsory to sacrifice cow on Bakr-id, rather the sacrifice of goat and camel can also b done. Thus, the total ban on cow slaughter does not infringe on any individual’s fundamental right.
State of Gujarat v. Mirzapur Moti Kureshi Kassab (2005):
In this case, the Supreme Court maintained that Article 48 especially deals with the protection of cows. It was further asserted that the cattle which are helped human needs from time immemorial shall be protected and handled with care even if they are no longer in use. The SC stated that after going through Article 51A and Article 48 in detail it is clear that animals shall be treated with kindness and compassionately. They too have their own sets of fundamental rights.
Conclusion
The Indian Constitution is a lengthy document that lays out the laws and regulations for the country. Article 48 is just one small article of the constitution, but it covers some important topics like conservation of resources, protection of cows, calves, and another milch from being slaughtered, and animal welfare. Article 48 has always been a very debatable topic in the constituent assembly This article is an overview of what Article 48 entails, with a focus on the key points. If you are interested in learning more about the Indian Constitution, stay tuned with us. For students who want to learn more about Indian law or the constitution, this article provides a good starting point.
