The Allahabad High Court on Thursday (26th February) upheld the detention of three accused (petitioners), Sikandar, Saiyyaj Ali, and Hasnen, under the National Security Act, 1980, for slaughtering a cow in March 2025, on the first day of Chaitra Navratri, coinciding with Eid in the Kalp town of the Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh.
A bench of Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Devendra Singh-I heard the habeas corpus petition filed by the accused under Article 226 of the Constitution, challenging the detention orders (dated April 25, 2025 and April 28, 2025 ) passed by the District Magistrate, Jalaun, under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980. The orders directed the accused to be detained for a period of one year.
Pointing out the timing of the incident, when two major religious festivals of the Hindu and the Muslim community coincided, the High Court said that the act hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. “The slaughter of bovine animals by the accused on the first day of Navratri, in circumstances where the cow is venerated as sacred by the Hindu community, was not merely a criminal act; it was an act that directly and foreseeably struck at the religious sentiments of a significant section of the community at a moment of heightened communal sensitivity,” the court remarked upholding the detention of the accused.
“The timing of the incident thus elevates it qualitatively beyond the category of an ordinary criminal offence into territory where its impact upon community life and public order becomes manifest,” the court added.
The High Court highlighted the grounds of detention of the accused to underline the impact of their act on society. “The grounds of detention record with specificity that the incident caused fear and terror, “भय प्रवाह व आतंक,” not merely among the parties to the incident but among the general public in Kalpi town, village Guloli and surrounding areas. This fear was not abstract or inferential; it manifested in concrete behavioural change: the general public in Kalpi town and the surrounding areas stopped leaving their cattle outside their homes and stopped tying them outside, out of fear,” the court noted.
The Court also noted that a situation of communal tension had erupted in the area, and a report of the Local Intelligence Unit mentioned that the public order had been shattered. “The grounds further record that the incident created a tense atmosphere between people of the Hindu and Muslim communities in Kalpi town and surrounding areas. The general public began viewing the incident as a conspiracy to cause riots and communal violence,” the court stated.
According to the High Court, the situation on the ground was so bad that the local administration had to take extraordinary action to maintain peace. “…police forces from other police station areas of the district were deployed at sensitive locations in Kalpi town and village Guloli as picket and patrol parties; a riot control drill was conducted in Kalpi town; the Superintendent of Police Jalaun, Inspector-in-Charge Kalpi, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kalpi and Circle Officer Kalpi personally conducted foot patrols; adequate police force conducted foot patrolling at sensitive locations during both day and night; communication was established with the general public to instil a sense of security; and a Peace Committee meeting was organised and dialogue was held with both communities,” the court noted.
“The alleged activity and its aftermath, community-wide fear and behavioural change across named localities, inter-community tension between Hindus and Muslims, a real risk of communal violence, an extraordinary administrative response, including riot
control drills and Peace Committee interventions, and a contemporaneous Local Intelligence Unit assessment of public order collapse collectively establish a disturbance of the even tempo of community life going well beyond an isolated criminal
offence,” the court said, validating the detention orders.
The case against the accused
On March 31, 2025, an FIR was filed at the Police Station Kotwali Kalpi under Sections 3/5/8 of the U.P. Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955, Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and Sections 4/25 of the Arms Act, 1959 against eight persons, including the present petitioners.
While patrolling in the area, the police received information that 7–8 persons were engaged in illegal cattle slaughter between fields/shrubs on March 30, 2025, which was the first day of Chaitra Navratri, and the next day was Eid. The police seized approximately two to 3 quintals of beef, knives, and other materials. One of the accused was caught on the spot, while others were nabbed later. The accused/petitioners were taken into judicial custody between March 31 and April 11, 2025. Two of the accused/petitioners were granted bail in April 2025, and the bail plea of a third accused was pending. In the meantime, the District Magistrate invoked Section 3(2) of the NSA on April 25 and April 28, 2025, directing their preventive detention.
The detention order was later approved by the state government.
