Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Assembly on Friday amended the Cow Protection Act to make cow slaughter punishable by life term. The penalty for cow slaughter earlier was a seven-year jail term.
The state assembly passed the amendment to the Gujarat Animal Preservation Act of 1954 providing for maximum punishment of up to life imprisonments and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh.
With this Act, cow slaughter became a non-bailable offence in the state. Hitherto, if a person was found in possession of beef, he could face a jail term ranging from seven to 10 years.
According to the new law, even if someone had a permit they would not be allowed to carry any meat at night.
With Narendra Modi as the state chief minister, the Gujarat government had in 2011 imposed a complete ban on cowslaughter, transportation and selling of cow-beef by amending the erstwhile Gujarat Animal Preservation Act of 1954.
Since then, the crimes related to cow slaughter in Gujarat are covered under the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act of 2011. Under this Act, the people found involved in cow-slaughtering and related crimes were penalised with Rs 50,000 fine and a jail term of up to seven years.
“Gau mata is a symbol of Indian culture and these changes have been made in consultation with people of society," Gujarat Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja told CNN-News18 on Friday.
(With agency inputs)
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