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PETITIONER: BUFFALO TRADERS WELFARE ASSN. & ANR.

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: MANEKA GANDHI & ORS.

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       30/11/1996

BENCH: KULDIP SINGH, B.L. HANSARIA

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT:                THE 30TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1996 Present:               Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kuldip Singh               Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.L. Hansaria S.K. Dhokakia,  R.F. Nariman,  Dr. A.M. Singhvi, Arun Jetly, Sr. Advs.,  Amit Dhingra,  Shakil Ahmad  Syed, P.H.  Parekh, K.C. Dua,  M.M. Isreily,  M.C. Uddin,  T.Qureshi, A.R. Khan, S.P. Jha,  Ms. Sheil Sethi, (M.C. Mehta), Adv. (NP), Hardeep Singh, B.S.  Banthia, R.C. Asthana, R.K. Maheshwari Ashok K. Srivastava, Sushil  Kumar Jain,  Advs.  with  them  for  the appearing parties.                          O R D E R      The following Order of the Court was delivered:                          O R D E R      These two applications relate to Idgah Slaughter House, Delhi. The common prayer in both of them is to hold that the order dated  July 8,  1996 passed in IA No.22 connected with Wp (C) No.4677 of 1985 does not have the effect of modifying and/or setting aside the order dated 19.2.1996 passed in the connected Civil  Appeals, by  which interim  order of status quo was  passed, while  granting special leave. As the order of status  quo is  in conflict  with the order passed in the writ petition,  a clarification  has also  been sought  that notwithstanding the  later order,  the order  of status  quo would continue to remain in operation. 2.   The order  in the  writ petition  relates not  only  to Idgah Slaughter  House, but  to 168 industries, of which the Slaughter House  is one.  By that order it was held that all the  168   named  industries  are  "hazardous/noxious"  and, therefore, a direction was given that these industries shall stop functioning  and operating  in the  city of  Delhi with effect from November 30, 1996. Direction No. (8) stated that the closure order shall be unconditional by adding that "(e) ven if  the re-location  of industries  is not complete they shall stop  functioning in  Delhi with  effect from November 30, 1996. 3.   As the  aforesaid order is relatable to 168 industries, it has  to be seen whether any exception can be made insofar as the  Slaughter House is concerned to permit it to operate and function  beyond November 30, 1996. It is worth pointing

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out that  when the  Inter Locutory  Application in  the Writ Petition was  being heard,  nobody had appeared on behalf of the Slaughter  House,  despite  ample  opportunities  having been given.  this apart,  perusal of the order dated July 8, 1996 shows  that that had come to be passed after this court was satisfied beyond doubt regarding the bazardous nature of the Slaughter  House, because  of what  was found by Central Pollution Control  Board, Delhi  Pollution Control Committee and a Special Committee Constituted by this Court. 4.   Further, insofar as the Slaughter House is concerned, a Division  Bench  of  Delhi  High  Court  had,  as  early  as 1.10.1992 by  its judgment  in CW  Nos. 2267/90,  158/91 and 130/92, directed, inter alia, that the Slaughter House shall be closed  with effect  from December  31, 1993  or from any earlier date which may be fixed by the Court keeping in view the facts  and circumstances  which may  arise  before  that date. The  Delhi High  Court came  to be seized with another petition on the same subject filed by Maneka Gandhi, who had initially  approached  this  Court  by  making  a  grievance regarding the  "unhgienic, inhuman  and horrible  conditions prevalent at  Idgah Slaughter  House of  Delhi." This  Court directed the  High Court  to dispose  of  the  petition.  By judgment dated  27th January,  1995 in Civil Writ No.2961/92 another Division  Bench, inter  alia, ordered for closure of Slaughter House  on or  before 31.12.1995. The aforesaid two appeals have  challenged the  later judgment  of Delhi  High Court in  which, while  granting special  leave, status  guo order reading as below was passed:-      "Our  attention  is  drawn  to  the      minutes  of   the   meeting   dated      14.2.1996  which   state  that  the      consensus between  the  authorities      and  parties   concerned  was  that      there was  no place available in or      around Delhi to which the slaughter      house  could   be  shifted.  Having      regard    to    this    unambiguous      statement the matters shall have to      be fully heard.      Special leave  granted. The appeals      re expedited.  Liberty is  given to      the parties to move the Hon’ble the      Chief Justice  for the  purposes of      early  hearing.  In  the  meantime,      status-quo shall be maintained." 5.   A perusal  of the  status quo  order leaves  nothing to doubt that it is founded on the consensus regarding no place being available  in or around Delhi to which Slaughter House could be  shifted. This consensus is reflected in minutes of the meeting  dated 14.2.1996.  We have  perused the same. It shows that  in the  meeting 35  persons were present and the participants   showed    their   concern    about   "illegal slaughtering in  different localities"  but because  of non- availability of  alternative  place,  modernisation  of  the Slaughter House  was agreed to. Now, insofar as availability of some  other place  in  and  around  Delhi  is  concerned, because of  the sustained  efforts made  by this  Court from 16th September  onwards, an  area of about 55 acres has been made available  and possession  of the  same has  also since been reportebly  delivered. Thus,  the basis  of passing the status-quo order no longer exists. 6.   S/Shri Dholakia  and Nariman,  learned  senior  counsel appearing for the applicants have nonetheless contended that to take  care of  the difficulty  which the  consumers would face if  the slaughter house would be closed as directed, it

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should be  permitted to  function at  least upto  the period when alternative arrangement for slaughtering is made at the new site.  Shri Nariman  read out  to us the order passed by this Court  on May 18, 1994 in SLP(C) No. 7790-91 of 1994 in which questions  were raised  as to  what would  happen when thousands of  workers would be thrown on the streets jobless and how  the meat requirements of a large city would be met? It was  submitted by  Shri Dholakia  that if  the  Slaughter House would  be closed, unhygienic meat would be supplied to the consumers which would be more hazardous. 7.   Insofar as the workers are concerned, it may be pointed out that  due attention  has been paid, inter alia, to their continuity of  service and  payment with full wages till the closure and  restarting of  all  the  industries,  as  would appear from  direction (9) as contained in the order of July 8, 1996, relevant part of which reads as below:-      "(9) The  workmen employed  in  the      abovementioned 168 industries shall      be  entitled   to  the  rights  and      benefits as directed hereunder:-      (a)   The    workmen   shall   have      continuity of employment at the new      town and  place where  the industry      is   shifted.    The   terms    and      conditions  of   their   employment      shall  not   be  altered  to  their      detriment:      (b) The  period between the closure      of the  industry in  Delhi and  its      restart at the place of re-location      shall   be    treated   as   active      employment and the workmen shall be      paid   their    full   wages   with      continuity of service. 8.   As regards  the consumers, we are of the view that they would not  face much  of the  problem. It has been stated in para 119  of the  impugned judgment  that hygenic  and fresh meat in  adequate quantity  can be  brought from  the nearby slaughter houses  as purely temporary measure. As the cattle which are slaughtered are brought from outside, according to us, there  should be  no difficulty  in bringing  the  meat, instead of the animals themselves. 9.   As to the argument that closure of the slaughter houses should see  unhygienic meat in the market, we should like to observe  that  this  apprehension  does  not  see  justified because there  are licensed  slaughter houses near Delhi. It is worth  pointing out  that when  the Idgah Slaughter House had remained closed for nearly three months in 1994, because of the  strike by  butchers, there  is nothing  on record to show that  the consumers  had to  remain satisfied by eating unhygienic meat.  The availability  of the meat also did not get adversely affected. 10.  In the  aforesaid premises,  though  the  interlocutory applications  are   liable  to   be   dismissed,   but   the consideration which  is weighing  with us  in not dismissing the same  altogether is  the interest  of  large  number  of consumers in  the territory  of  Delhi.  This  is  the  only industry of  its type in the territory. There being no other slaughter house  near at  hand to  cater the  needs  of  the residents of  Delhi some  hardship is likely to be caused to the meateaters. At the same time the interest of environment and ecology  cannot be  ignored. It  cannot be disputed that the slaughter  house is  being  run  under  highly  polluted environment. With a view to keep balance between the need of the people of Delhi and the environment, we direct as under:

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(1)  We permit  the Idgah  Slaughter House  to function till June 30, 1997 on the following conditions:      (i) Goats/he  goats/sheep numbering      2000 per  day shall be permitted to      be slaughtered  in the premises, no      other animals shall be slaughtered.      (ii)  Buffaloes  (any  sex),  cows,      bulls (i.e.  large  animals)  shall      not be  permitted to be slaughtered      as their  slaughter generates  more      pollution. The  Buffalo section  is      the most  polluted section  in  the      slaughter house,  We reiterate that      except  2000  (Two  thousand  only)      goats/he   goats/sheep   no   other      animals to  be slaughtered  in  the      premises. The  buffalo  section  of      the slaughter house shall be closed      with immediate effect.      (iii) The  slaughter house shall be      kept environmentally  clean by  the      MCD. (2)  The Central  Pollution Control  Board shall  visit  the slaughter house every two months till June 30, 1997 and file report in  this Court indicating the environmental status of the premises. (3)  The animal  market shall  not be  permitted to function near the  slaughter house. Holding the animals market in the crowded part  of the  city is  environmentally hazardous and cannot be permitted. (4)  The Deputy  Commissioner of  Police of  the area  shall stop the  holding of  the market  in  the  vicinity  of  the slaughter house.  The meat  sellers/butchers may  bring  the animals to  the slaughter  house in an environmentally clear manner and  take the  meat back  in similar  way. No  market should be permitted in the area. (5)  The Municipal  Corporation  of  Delhi  shall  stop  all illegal slaughtering  in Quasebpura  area near  Idgah or any other   part   of   Delhi.   The   Commissioner,   Municipal Corporation, Delhi  shall take  necessary steps  to stop the illegal slaughtering  in all  parts of  Delhi. If  necessary police help be taken in this respect. (6)  We make  it clear  that heavy  pollution fine  shall be imposed by  this Court  on polluters  indulging  in  illegal slaughtering. Even the MCD shall be liable to pollution fine if the  slaughter house  is not  kept environmentally clean. The staff in charge of the slaughter house may personally be liable to pay the fine. (7)  Municipal Corporation of Delhi shall take steps on war- footing to  construct the  modern  slaughter  house  on  the alternative land  already acquired  by the  Corporation.  We make it  clear that  the Idgah  Slaughter house would not be permitted to  continue at  the present  site beyond June 30, 1997.      The I.A.S are disposed of accordingly.