In a petition filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the grant of anticipatory bail under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) by an accused in a First Information Report (FIR) dated 19-07-2025 registered for the commission of offences punishable under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and Section 8 of the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Aaradhna Sawhney denied the grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner.
The President of the Gau Raksha Dal filed a complaint against the petitioner, stating that 50 kg of beef was found in the petitioner’s vehicle. After an FIR was registered, the petitioner was let out on bail. Thereafter, a sample of the meat was taken and identified by the National Meat Research Institute, Chengicherla, Hyderabad, as that of a bull/ox. The petitioner moved an application for anticipatory bail, which was dismissed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Chandigarh.
The 62-year-old petitioner submitted that he had been falsely implicated in the case, as he was genuinely under the impression that the meat he had purchased was buffalo, and that the sellers had failed to disclose that it was beef.
The Court referred to Nikita Jagganath Shetty v. State of Maharashtra & Anr. 2025 AIR SC 3375 and stated that the plea of the petitioner that he was misled by the sellers was an afterthought, which cannot be taken note of. The Court opined that custodial interrogation of the petitioner was required to identify the people involved in this incident, the location where the cows were slaughtered, how beef is sold, and the purchasers, etc.
Thus, the Court stated that the petitioner had not made out a case of exceptional hardship warranting the grant of anticipatory bail as extraordinary relief and dismissed the petition.
Appearances:
For Petitioner – Mr. Jasbir Singh Dadwal
For Respondent – Mr. Rahul Arora (APP)
For Complainant – Mr. Devinder Rajput, Mr. Sushant Gupta
