Hearing in a case regarding sale of meat from illegal slaughter houses, the high court has directed all the district magistrates to ascertain whether the meat being sold is from authorised slaughterhouses. They have been directed to submit their detailed report in the court on September 22 by the division bench of chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice Alok Kumar Verma.

In the past, the high court had ordered closure of all illegal slaughter houses in the state while also directing that no animal should be slaughtered in the open. With illegal slaughter houses being closed following the court order, meat traders suffering loss in business had filed a special appeal against the order in the division bench. They had stated in their appeal that during December 2011, the court had ordered the State government to open slaughter houses as per regulations in the state. However, nine years after the said order was passed, the slaughter houses meeting government standards have not been opened. This is causing a loss to meat traders. The State had challenged this decision of the high court in the Supreme Court. The high court had directed the state government to present the stay order from the Apex court which the state was not able to present. In the meanwhile, the division bench has directed all the district magistrates to submit their report in the court ascertaining whether the meat being sold in the state is being sourced from authorised slaughter house.