HC directs BMC to consider plea for Eid sacrifice in housing society
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to consider an application for allowing goat sacrifice in a housing society in Ghatkopar on the occasion of Bakrid, which falls on Saturday.
The vacation bench of justices Dr Neela Gokhale and Manjusha Deshpande was hearing a petition filed by Abdul Shaik, a co-operative housing society member who alleged that he was denied permission for the sacrificial ritual this year although he had been allowed to do so during the preceding two years. This was contrary to the BMC's policy, which allows the sacrificial ritual in housing societies when there is no slaughter house available within a one-kilometre radius.
'We have been granted permissions to carry out the sacrifices in our housing society for the past two years, and now suddenly they are refusing us permission. Although people from all faiths live in the society, the majority of the population is Muslim,' advocate Kaif Mujawar, Shaik's lawyer, told the court.
Mujawar said though there was a mutton shop at a distance of two kilometres from the housing society, it could only carry out the sacrifice of 25 goats.
'The area has a population of more than 50,000 Muslims. The single mutton shop cannot serve the needs of all the residents,' Mujawar said.
The BMC opposed the plea, saying although a policy was in place to allow such slaughter in housing societies, the civic body was under no obligation to grant permissions.
'Assuming that permissions were previously granted, we are trying to enforce better civil sense starting this year,' the BMC's counsel told the court. Allowing such slaughter would create problems in waste management, he added.
The BMC's counsel also told the court that there were at least three municipal slaughter houses in N ward, where the housing society was located. These slaughter houses were capable of handling the needs of the community and therefore there was no need to entertain the plea, he said.
After hearing both sides, the court directed the BMC to consider the application.
HT reached out to the BMC for comments, but did not get any response.
Plea for mass Namaz at August Kranti Maidan
The vacation bench on Friday also directed the state government to decide on a representation seeking permission to perform namaz during Bakrid at the August Kranti Maidan. The court asked social worker Umer Abdul Jabbar Gopalani to approach the government's social and cultural affairs department to seek permission to hold mass prayers at the ground.
Gopalani had moved the high court after the Gamdevi police refused permission for mass namaz on the occasion of Bakrid on Saturday, claiming it could cause traffic snarls and law and order issues. Gopalani, however, claimed that the local Muslim community had been using the ground to perform mass namaz during Eid for the past 50 years, and there had never been any law and order situation or traffic problem.
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