Delhi HC bans chicken slaughter at Ghazipur poultry market, says can sell only live birds

The bench sought a compliance report by the next date of hearing, October 29. It also asked the authorities to come up with a plan to set up a designated slaughterhouse in the area, and said the interim order will remain in force till then.

The bench further noted that after an inspection of the mandi on April 24, the DPCC had given its report highlighting violations.

The court also took note of the PIL by animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi, who has alleged that over 1.50 lakh poultry birds are being traded and slaughtered illegally at the mandi every day. The petition draws attention to the condition the birds are being kept in, saying they are “tied up and hung upside down, de-feathered, stuffed in wire cages without sufficient food or water and slaughtered while alive”.

It has further claimed that waste generated as a result of the slaughter was not properly disposed — it was either flushed down the drain, ending up in the rivers, or dumped in the open.

On April 24, the DPCC had directed the closure of the slaughter houses operating from the DAMB premises at the mandi. “However, even after five months, slaughtering is still taking place there,” the bench noted.

The counsel representing the traders at the mandi submitted that if slaughtering is banned, the birds will be sold to individual shopkeepers and the activity will take place there as well. He said the ban will affect their livelihood.

The bench turned down their contention and said it cannot permit anything which is contrary to law, and that the activities are causing water pollution. “Let the traders deal with the statutory authorities, no sympathy with all these things. We are concerned with the larger issue of pollution in the area,” it said.

The DAMB counsel claimed that the board had asked traders to stop slaughtering activities. The court had, on August 31, also directed the DAMB to shut down all poultry slaughterhouses running in Ghazipur. The court also said the DAMB cannot lay the blame on the traders.

The DAMB, in its defence, contended that it had removed those butcher shops which were operating on the roadside. It added that shutting down slaughterhouses would not be a solution as the sellers will sell the meat on the streets.

A senior official of the East civic body said there were plans to build a slaughterhouse for birds on four acres of government land, but claimed that the DAMB never transferred the land and the project could not be executed.

A member of the market association, Salim Ilahi, said, “There have been mistakes from both sides. Over 300 of the 500 poultry shops in the area slaughter chicken… many do not care about hygiene. Also, the Delhi government never built the slaughterhouse… it would have taken care of all these issues.”

A Delhi government spokesperson said, “We agree with the HC’s decision; the mandi was not supposed to be for slaughtering. The slaughterhouses were running illegally.”