The Supreme Court on Monday put two months' suspension on the Jammu and Kashmir High Court's order banning sale of beef in the state.
The bench of Chief Justice of India HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy asked the chief justice of Jammu & Kashmir HC to constitute a three-judge panel to examine the validity of provisions under the 150-year-old Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
The SC suspended the HC order upon hearing a plea filed by the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government. Advocate Amarendra Sharan, who is representing the state government, had highlighted the "inconsistencies" in the high court order as he urged Justice Dattu to hear the plea urgently.
The Jammu & Kashmir HC had on 9 September imposed the ban on beef sale, after which its Srinagar bench issued a notice to the state government on a petition seeking scrapping of the provision of RPC that bans slaughter of bovine animals, PTI reported.
The state government later moved the top cort against the two conflicting orders by the benches of the high court.
"The HC's two conflicting orders have grave ramifications for the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir as the orders are being misused and interpreted in a manner so as to disturb peace in the state," the state government's petition says according to PTI.
"The apex court should ensure that there is uniformity and consistency in the judicial pronouncements and that there is no scope to exploit the present situation by disrupting communal harmony, amity and peace in the state and thereby alienating people of the state from national ma," it added.
(With IANS inputs)
