It was clarified on Wednesday, August 20, that slaughterhouses in Mumbai will not remain closed for all nine days of the Paryushan festival, observed by the Jain community. On Friday, the Bombay High Court declined to grant immediate relief on a plea seeking directions for municipal corporations in various cities to shut slaughterhouses throughout the festival, which upholds the Jain principle of non-violence.
Four Jain community organisations and charitable institutions had petitioned the court, referencing a 15-year-old Supreme Court decision in a similar case filed by an anti-violence association. They argued that a temporary ban on animal slaughter was justified to maintain unity in diversity and noted that Maharashtra and Mumbai in particular has a larger Jain population than Gujarat and Ahmedabad. Hence, they requested a nine-day ban in Mumbai.
However, a division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandip Marne passed an order on July 7, following which the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner reconsidered his stance. Advocate Urja Dhond informed the court on Wednesday that the commissioner has now ordered slaughterhouses to remain closed on August 24 and 27, during Paryushan.
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In an affidavit, the commissioner stated that Mumbai is home to people of all religions, with a large non-vegetarian population and a relatively smaller Jain population. Furthermore, the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region relies on the Deonar slaughterhouse, making a complete nine-day closure impractical.