Agartala, Mar 27: The High Court of Tripura has directed the state government to issue a transit permit in favour of an NGO to transport rescued cows from the northeastern state to its facility in Jharkhand.
The directive followed a writ petition submitted by the organisation, Dhyan Foundation, seeking the court’s intervention to allow the transport of rescued bovines to its ‘gaushala’ in Jharkhand.
After hearing the case, Justice T Amarnath Goud directed the state on March 23 to issue a transit permit in favour of the petitioner to transport rescued cows from Tripura to its Jharkhand-based ‘gaushala’.
A ‘gaushala’ is a shelter for cows, dedicated to the care, rescue, and rehabilitation of stray, neglected, or aged bovines.
The petitioner shall be at liberty to transport the cattle to its cow shelters in Jharkhand, exercising due care and caution, the court said.
“It is made clear that in the course of such transportation, there shall be no violation of any of the provisions under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and Rules, 2017 and assistance in shifting the cattle from Tripura to Jharkhand via Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal and Bihar,” Dhyan Foundation representative Gaurav Yadav said, quoting the court order.
The organisation is now taking care of nearly 2,100 cattle rescued by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Tripura, he said.
In addition, around 22,000 bovines, rescued by the BSF, other authorities and individuals, are in its Chakulia gaushala in Jharkhand, he said.
“We had moved the court seeking directions to the state to permit the transport of the cattle in Tripura to our ‘gaushala’ in Jharkhand, where we have better infrastructure, cheaper fodder, and there is a lower threat of attacks from the cattle smuggling mafia,” Yadav said.
Cattle smuggling from Tripura to Bangladesh is rampant, he claimed, adding that the distribution of the rescued bovines among individuals could compromise the safety of the cattle. (PTI)
