Is exhibiting cow’s flesh to Hindus an offence?

Question: Is exhibiting cow’s flesh to Hindus an offence?

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Answer

Section 295 makes destruction, damage, or defilement of a place of worship or an object held sacred, with intent to insult the religion, by a class of persons, punishable.

Further, Section 295A deals with ‘deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings or insult the religious beliefs or religion of a class of citizens. Whether a particular place or object is a sacred one, is a question of fact. It is well-settled fact that the cow is a sacred animal considered in Hindu law.

As the Hon’ble SC has observed in the case of S Veerabhadran Chettiar v. EV Ramasami Naicker [AIR 1958 SC 1032 ]: Any object, however, trivial or destitute of real value in itself, if regarded as sacred by any class of persons, would come within the meaning of the penal section. It is not absolutely necessary that the object held sacred should have been actually worshipped. An object may be held sacred by a class of persons without being worshipped by them.

The courts below, the apex court observed, were rather cynical in so lightly brushing aside the religious susceptibilities of that class of persons to which the complainant belongs. Courts, it cautioned, have to be very circumspect in such matters and should pay due regard to the feelings and religious emotions of persons with different beliefs, irrespective of the consideration whether or not they share that belief or whether they are rational or otherwise, in the opinion of the court.

So, in the present case exhibiting cow’s flesh to Hindus will be considered as an offense.

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