The Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government has cleared an amendment to its anti-cow slaughter Act, in a bid to tackle the growing problem of cow vigilantism in the state.
The amendment makes engaging in violence or damaging state property in the name of cow ‘vigilantism’ a punishable offence.
According to report in The Indian Express, the Kamal Nath-led government approved the proposal to jail cow vigilantes guilty of violence for six months, up to three years, apart from a Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 fine.
Such offences are dealt with by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) currently.
Additional Chief Secretary of Animal Husbandry, Manoj Shrivastava, told the daily that the punishment, under the Madhya Pradesh Gauvansh Vadh Pratishedh Adhiniyam scheme, will increase to minimum one year and maximum five years if a mob is involved in cow vigilantism.
In case of repeat offenders, the jail term will be doubled, he added.
The Supreme Court, in July 2018, had said that the horrendous acts of mob violence cannot be allowed to overrun the law of the land and went ahead to issue guidelines to deal with mob lynchings and cow vigilantism.
(With inputs from PTI, The Indian Express)
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