Central notification on cattle has nothing to do with cow slaughter, says Jaitley

New Delhi, Jun 1: The Central Government today said the latest notification on cattle issue was confined only to the sale of the same and had nothing to do with the slaughter issue and the notification in no way trespasses on the rights of the state Governments.
“The notification has nothing to do whether you can slaughter a cattle or not,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here.
He said the states have their own laws besides Article 48 of Constitution which directs about animal protection.
Under the said Article, the state (or the Government) shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and drought cattle.
Mr Jaitley also pointed out with regard to the cow slaughter issue, “States have their own legislation or no legislation” and added that in no way the Central Government notification from the Union Ministry of Environment can actually intrude into the rights of the states.