RAJIV SHARMA, J.

In this petition, a question of vital public importance has been raised for the protection of cows. The petitioner is a registered organization. The aim and object of the petitioner-organization is to protect Cows and to preserve its varieties. The petitioner has also sought complete ban on cow slaughter. There is no proper arrangement for food, medicine and infrastructure for the cows. The cows are found abandoned throughout the State of Himachal Pradesh. The cows are also transported outside the State brutally for slaughtering. The devotion of Indians towards worship of cows is an integral part of Hinduism. There is dire need to construct modern gaushallas/gausadans in the State of Himachal Pradesh to protect abandoned cows. There should be compulsory registration of the cattle as well as gausadans/gaushallas. The petitioner in fact has sought complete ban on cow slaughter in India.

2. The former President of India Dr. Radhakrishnan in his Speech on “The Role of Cow in Indian Economy” has addressed as follows:

“There is a great deal of sentiment for the cow; but in our daily life the welfare of the cow has been sadly neglected. There is a tendency among our people to maintain large numbers of cattle and to take pride in them, but adequate attention is not paid to their being properly fed and cared for. The result has been that the average productivity of the cow has remained low. In the changing economy of the country, there is increasing need for more productive cattle for both milk and draught.

There is a large scope for non-official organizations supplementing the efforts made by the governmental agencies for cattle and dairy development in the country. Special mention may be made of the traditional institutions of gaushalas and pinjrapoles spread all over the country which, I think, have to play an increasingly important role in the field of protection and development of cattle. The gaushalas and pinjrapoles, as voluntary public bodies, have the advantage of being in direct contact with the people. With the advancement of science and the spread of education in the country, our people are becoming increasingly conscious of the need to apply improved methods in all fields of development. The gaushalas, which are reorienting their outlook on scientific lines, can carry the message of scientific development of cattle to the general public. Schemes for the development and reorganization of gaushalas and pinjrapoles as cattle-breeding-cum-milk production centres have been included in the Third Five Year Plan, and it is noteworthy that these institutions are availing themselves increasingly of the assistance provided under various schemes.”

3. In “The Indian Constitution Cornerstone of a Nation”, the learned author Granville Austin, has observed that the provision pertaining to the improvement of agriculture and animal husbandry techniques and the prohibition of cow slaughter was added to the Directive Principles for a mixture of reasons. He made the following observations qua Article 48:

“The need to improve agriculture was obvious, and cattle generally, the cow particularly, held a place of special reverence in Hindu thought. The religious aspect of cow protection had also long standing political ramifications. Indian Muslims killed cows both for food and as part of religious ceremonies. Hindus, of course, resented this; cow protection societies had existed for at least sixty years prior to the Assembly, and a religious difference had become a major political cause espoused by genuine believers and unscrupulous opportunists alike, for reasons both honourable and otherwise. In the days of the British Raj, many Hindu revivalists had promised themselves that with independence cow killing would stop. Those of this persuasion in the Assembly believed that the time for action was ripe and, as a result of