BMC: No online permits for goat sacrifice during Eid

Mumbai: After being pulled up by the Bombay high court, the BMC informed the court on Wednesday that it will stop with immediate effect issuing online licenses for the sacrifice of goats and sheep during Bakri Id.

A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz chagala was hearing a PIL filed by Jeev Maitri Trust, opposing the BMC’s blanket online permission to citizens to buy a maximum of five goats to sacrifice during Bakri Id. The petitioner was concerned that such online license without verification would lead to animals being sacrificed on footpaths, pavements and public roads; and in societies etc. This in turn would lead to health hazards apart from adverse affects on environment.

On Thursday, the petitioner’s lawyer Sujay Kantawala informed the court that the BMC’s online licence granting system was so weak that two persons had even got permission to sacrifice four goats in the court room number 13, where the case was being heard. He also showed the relevant permissions.  

Meanwhile, the BMC’s counsel informed the court that even though the civic body had granted online permission without verification of persons and availability of space, it had asked people bringing goats from the Deonar abattoir whether they had fulfilled the requisite conditions like no-objection certificate from the society, etc. However, the court  said that this was elementary verification which needed to be done by the BMC before issuing license. The court kept the matter for hearing on Monday and asked the BMC to state how it would verify permissions already issued.