GUWAHATI:A three-year-old Nagaland government decree banning the importation of dogs for commercial purposes, dog trade, and the selling of dog meat in markets and sit-down restaurants has been quashed by the Gauhati High Court's Kohima Bench.
The judgment was passed on June 2 after Justice Marli Vankun heard a petition by 3 individuals who supplied and sold dog and dog meat in Nagaland before the ban was enforced via the notification on July 4, 2020.
The respondents included Nagaland’s Food Safety Commissioner, Chief Secretary, and the Department of Health and Family Welfare, the Kohima Municipal Council, People For Animals and the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India. The court noted that the primary question under discussion was whether the State government properly issued the contested notification in response to an FSSAI circular dated August 6, 2014, which cited the definitions of "animals," "carcass," and "meat" under a pertinent regulation from 2011.
The court noted that neither canines nor dogs were specified under the definition of "animals," but added that this was "not surprising" given that, with the exception of some regions of the northeast, "the very idea of consuming dog meat is alien" to the nation.
The court stated that even while the impugned notification of July 4, 2020 was purported to have been passed in accordance with a Cabinet decision, consumption of dog meat appears to be an acceptable practise and food among the Nagas even in current times.
This was due to the fact that the notification was sent out without "there being any law passed by the legislation in relation to the trade and consumption of dog meat". The Chief Secretary was not the proper authority to issue the contested ban order, the court further ruled.
The court further noticed that the petitioners had been earning their livelihoods by transporting dogs and selling dog meat.