The Delhi High Court on Wednesday barred Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) from organizing the "beef and pork" festival on September 28.
Acting on a petition filed by the Rashtriya Goraksha Sena seeking directions for JNU to initiate disciplinary action against the organisers of the event and prohibit the serving of beef and pork or anything that hurts religious sentiments, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw ruled, “The JNU and police are directed to ensure that no such beef and pork festival takes place on Sep 28 and in future.”
The JNU authorities had, on Monday, warned students against organising any such event, after the announcement of food festival sparked protests from right-wing groups.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Rajeev Mehra, appearing for the Central Government, submitted in the court a circular issued by JNU that warned students against the possession, consumption or cooking of beef on campus, pointing to the law that prohibits cow slaughter.
The notice cited the Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act of 1994, which specifies that a person found violating the law may land in jail for five years or have to pay a fine up to Rs. 10,000 for storing or serving beef.
The plea had called JNU Foremention Committee for Beef and Pork Festival “a group of Maoists and anti-national forces,” that, under the pretext of right to eat, was disrupting the “peace and educational atmosphere of the institution.”
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