Lumpy skin disease:Delhi High Court seeks MCD’s response on plea seeking to ensure dignified burial of dead cows

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD) in a plea seeking dignified burial or cows dying due to Lumpy Skin diseases.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea seeking direction for taking immediate action and remedial steps needed to eliminate the contagious viral disease known as 'Lump Skin Disease'.

During the hearing, the petitioner-in-person Advocate Ajay Gautam filed an application stating the current condition in which the cows are being buried. He submitted that the affidavit filed by the Delhi government is in total contradiction with the current condition.

“They are not doing any dignified burial at all. Before I start, I want to show some photographs of what they are doing in the name of burial….in the name of the scientific process of burial they are dividing the cows into many parts, ripping them off, and once they are dead, then burying them”, the petitioner submitted.

CJ Sharma said, “But last time they made a statement that they’ll not do it”.

The petitioner stated, “Kindly have a look at the photographs, the bones are apart, the skin is apart…I have filed my rejoinder in the status report filed by the Delhi government, and I have also filed a miscellaneous application”.

Counsel for MCD stated that it is a part of the process of burial, it is a scientific disposal process and it is mentioned Section 393 of the MCD Act.

While expressing displeasure on the MCD actions, CJ Sharma said, “You are saying something that I am not able to digest, I am not able to digest this at all”.

“You can’t cut them into pieces and then bury them, from where is this process involved? It is nowhere written in the Act. Please show me where it is written…You cannot explain just anything. Explain it with documents, from where the procedure is coming! There must be some statutory backing…Tomorrow you can do it to human beings as well..”, CJ Sharma added.

The court directed the counsel for MCD to file documents to support the scientific process of the disposal they’re using for the cows. Accordingly, the court listed the matter for further consideration on August 21, 2023.

Notably, in October 2022, the court had directed the Delhi Government to ensure that there is a dignified burial of the cows dying due to Lumpy Skin disease.

Case Title: Ajay Gautam v. Government of NCT of Delhi & Anr.