INDIA, September 27, 2019 (Live Law): The Tripura High Court has, in an important judgment delivered on Friday, banned animal/birds sacrifice in the temples of the state observing that the animals also have a fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. No person including the State shall be allowed to sacrifice of any animal/bird within the precincts of any one of the temples within the State of Tripura, declared the bench comprising of the Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Arindam Lodh. It said that the sacrifice of an animal in a temple, not being an essential part of religion, is also violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
Referring to various Articles of Constitution, the bench observed that it calls upon every citizen of India to exhibit compassion for all living creatures and develop a temper of humanism towards all wildlife, and that the framers of the Constitution had desired to inter alia, develop a spirit of compassion and humanism, abjure violence and also exhibit the same towards all living beings.
More of this lengthy judgement can be read at “source”.
HPI note: None of this judgment applies to any religion other than Hinduism, and it does not apply to the slaughter of animals for food.