New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the authorities to continue to take action in accordance with law in relation to the removal of cows from the city’s roads.
The court noted that steps were being taken by officials on the issue while opining that no order was required to be passed on the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a lawyer on the presence of cows on the roads.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma also said that if the earlier guidelines on the issue were not being followed, a plea for contempt action should be filed and not a fresh PIL.
“No further orders are called for. The state shall keep monitoring the situation and take appropriate action in accordance with the law,” the bench also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad said.
Counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi submitted that it was taking appropriate action, including sending cattle to guashala, and a review of the situation every month.
It was also said that notices had been issued to illegal dairies.
The presence of cows on the roads causes hardships to the public at large as it becomes difficult for the owners of vehicles to pass through and it even leads to accidents and traffic jams, petitioner Faraz Khan contended.
He also alleged that the cow owners were “misusing their positions” and leaving the cattle free on the streets despite being provided a separate site.
“The cow owners, after milching the cows, let them move free on the road and they cause garbage, cow dung and other dirty things on the roads and galies and these dirty things give a bad smell and lead to dirty environment on the roads and streets and even the passers-by who pass from the sides of the roads and galies/streets also feel inconvenience, hardships and problems in passing through the streets,” the plea said.
“Many a times the cows strike against heavy vehicles and the said cows get injured and many a times they die and sometimes when the cows strike against the light vehicles then the said persons/ drivers also get injured,” it added.
The petition, besides seeking the removal of cows from the roads, also sought a direction to the authorities to give them shelter.
