'Lynching is order of the day': Allahabad HC slams UP govt over violence in name of cow protection

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The Allahabad High Court came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government for failing to control cow-related mob violence and vigilantism.

A bench of Justices Abdul Moin and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary observed that lawlessness in the name of “cow protection" threatens the rule of law.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Rahul Yadav, a Pratapgarh resident, seeking quashing of an FIR lodged against him under the UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 195, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, according to a report by News18.

The FIR alleged that cow progeny were being transported for slaughter, but the court noted that the animals were found alive and there was no claim that they were being taken outside the state which is a necessary element under Section 5A of the Cow Slaughter Act.

The Allahabad HC referred to its earlier decision in Kaliya v. State of U.P. (2023). It said that transportation of cow progeny within the state “is not a crime" and that such cases show the “casual manner in which the provisions of the Act, 1955 are being invoked", according to a report by News18.

The court also stated that it was “deluged with such matters" based on First Information Reports being filed “left and right by the authorities and complainants under the provisions of the Act, 1955".

The bench referred extensively to the Supreme Court’s judgment in Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India (2018), which laid down detailed preventive, remedial, and punitive measures to curb mob lynching and vigilantism.

While granting interim protection to the petitioner, the bench shifted focus to what it called a disturbing trend of vigilantism. Citing a recent case involving vigilantes who allegedly stopped a man’s car that later went missing, the bench remarked, “Violence, lynching and vigilantism is the order of the day".