No proposal for law to allow animal sacrifice: Himachal CM

Shimla, March 25 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Wednesday informed the assembly that there was no proposal to enact any law or promulgate an ordinance against the high court's ban on animal sacrifices for religious purposes in the state.

The government will soon clarify its stand on the issue in the Supreme Court, he said while replying during Question Hour.

Kullu legislator Maheshwar Singh and others have filed a special leave petition in the apex court, challenging the high court's September 1, 2014, order banning the sacrifice of animals in temples.

The court had observed that they cannot be permitted to be killed in a barbaric manner to appease the gods.

The chief minister clarified that there was no move to file a review petition.

"The government will await the outcome of the Supreme Court".

Virbhadra Singh said the ban was not only on animals but also on birds.

Refuting his statements in the media that the government was bringing an ordinance to allow the age-old custom of sacrifice of animals in temples, the chief minister said he never made such a statement.

"Since the ban covers only one community (Hindus), there are other religions where such practice is still prevalent. There is a thought that why only one community has been banned and other allowed to continue," he said.

The landmark 110-page judgment of a division bench of the high court observed: "The practice of animal and bird sacrifice is abhorrent and dastardly."