‘A clever ploy’: Punjab and Haryana High Court rejects man’s claim of being ‘misled’ into selling 50 kg beef

Beef Possession Case: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected a 62-year-old man’s anticipatory bail plea and said that his claim for being misled by meat suppliers was a “clever ploy” to evade prosecution for alleged illegal beef possession.

Justice Aradhana Sawhney was hearing an anticipatory bail plea of a man in a case registered under Section 299 of BNS, which deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to insult a religion and outrage religious sentiments.

Later, the police added Section 8 of the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955, which deals with the penalties for violating the act’s provisions.

“The plea now taken by the petitioner, that he was misled by the sellers, who had allegedly disclosed to him that the meat was not beef, is a clever ploy and an afterthought, which does not deserve to be taken note of,” the court said on January 19.

Jagriti Rai works with The Indian Express, where she writes from the... Read More