LexThe Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976.
Maharashtra · state statute
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this act1977 : Mah. IX] 1
THE MAHARASHTRA ANIMAL
PRESERVATION ACT, 1976
[Text as on 10th September 2024]
_____________
CONTENTS
PREAMBLE.
SECTIONS.
1. Short title, extent, commencement and application.
2. Declaration of State Policy.
3. Definitions.
4. Appointment of competent authorities.
5. Prohibition of slaughter of cows, bulls or bullocks.
5A. Prohibition on transport and export of cow, bull or bullock for slaughter.
5B. Prohibition on sale, purchase, disposal in any other manner of cow, bull or bullock.
5C. Prohibition on possession of flesh of cow, bull or bullock.
5D. Prohibition on possession of flesh of cow, bull or bullock slaughtered outside the State
of Maharashtra.
6. Restrictions on slaughter of scheduled animals.
7. Scheduled animals to be slaughtered at specified places only.
8. Power of entry, search, seizure and custody.
9. Penalty for contravention of sections 5, 5A or 5B.
9A. Penalty for contravention of sections 5C, 5D or 6.
9B. Burden of proof on accused.
10. Offences under Act to be cognizable and non-bailable.
11. Abetments and attempts.
12. Persons exercising powers under this Act deemed to be public servants.
13. Protection of persons acting in good faith under Act or rules.
14. Exemptions under this Act.
15. Delegation of powers.
16. Power to make rules.
17. Repeal and savings.
SCHEDULE
2 The Maharashtra Animal Preservation [1977 : Mah. IX
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Act, 1976
LIST OF AMENDMENT ACT
1. Amended by Mah. 5 of 2015 (04-03-2015)
Note.- The date mentioned in the bracket indicates the date of commencement of the Act.
4 The Maharashtra Animal Preservation [1977 : Mah. IX
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Act, 1976
MAHARASHTRA ACT No. IX OF 19771
[THE MAHARASHTRA ANIMAL PRESERVATION ACT, 1976.]
[This Act received the assent of the President on the 16th day of February 1977; assent
was first published in the Maharashtra Government Gazette, on the 1st day of March 1977.]
An Act to provide for the prohibition of slaughter 2[and preservation of cows, bulls and bullocks
useful for milch, breeding, draught or agricultural purposes and for restriction on slaughter
for the preservation of certain other animals suitable for the said purposes].
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide f or the prohibition of slaughter 3[and preservation of cows,
bulls and bullocks useful for milch, breeding, draught or agricultural purposes and for restriction on
slaughter for the preservation of certain other animals suitable for the said purposes] and t o provide for
matter connected therewith; It is hereby enacted in the Twenty -seventh Year of the Republic of India
as follows :—
1. Short title, extent, commencement and application. — (1) This Act may be called the
Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Maharashtra.
(3) It shall come into force on such date 4 as the State Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, appoint.
(4) It shall apply to cows 5[bulls or bullocks] and to scheduled animals.
2. Declaration of State Policy. — It is hereby declared that this Act is for giving effect to the
policy of the State towards securing the principles specified in article 48 of the Constitution of India.
3. Definitions.— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “Competent authority” means a person or body of persons appointed by the State
Government under section 4 to perform the functions of a competent authority under this Act ;
(b) “cow” includes a heifer or male or female calf of a cow ;
(c) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act ;
(d) “Schedule” means the Schedule appended to this Act ;
(e) “scheduled animal” means any animal specified in the Schedule; and the Stat e
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette , add to the Schedule any species of
animals, after considering the necessity for preservation of that species of animals; and the
provisions of sub -section ( 3) of section 16, in so far as they relat e to laying before, and
modification by, the State Legislature, shall apply in relation to such notification as they apply to
any rule made under that section.
4. Appointment of competent authority. — The State Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, appoint one or more persons or one or more bodies of persons to perform the function
of a competent authority under this Act and specify the areas within which they shall perform such
functions.
5. Prohibition of slaughter of cows, 6[bulls o r bullocks]. — Notwithstanding anything
contained in any other law for the time being in force or any usage or custom to the contrary no person
1 For St atement of Objects and Reasons of the L. A. Bill No. LXXVI of 1976, see Maharashtra Government Gazette ,
1976, Extraordinary, Part V, dated 6th December 1976, page 679.
2 This portion was substituted for the portion beginning with the words “of cows” and en ding with the words “agricultural
purposes” by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 2.
3 This portion was substituted for the portion beginning with the words “of cows” and ending with th e words “agricultural
purposes” by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 3.
4 15th day of April 1978, vide G. N., A and C.D., No. SIT-1076/28233/3-ADF, dated the 13th April 1978.
5 These words were inserted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 4.
6 These words were added by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 5(b).
6 The Maharashtra Animal Preservation [1977 : Mah. IX
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shall slaughter or cause to be slaughtered or offer for slaughter any cow 1[bull or bullock], in any place
in the State of Maharashtra.
2[5A. Prohibition on transport and export of cow, bull or bullock for slaughter. — (1) No
person shall transport or offer for transport or cause to be transported cow, bull or bullock from any
place within the State to any place outside the State for the purpose of its slaughter in contravention of
the provisions of this Act or with the knowledge that it will be or is likely to be, so slaughtered.
(2) No person shall export or cause to be exported outside the State of Maharashtra cow, bull or
bullock for the purpose of slaughter either directly or through his agent or servant or any other person
acting on his behalf, in contravention of the provisions of this Act or with the knowledge that it will be
or is likely to be slaughtered.
5B. Prohibition on sale, purchase, disposal in any other manner of cow, bull or bullock. —
No person shall purchase, sell or otherwise dispose of or offer to purchase, sell or otherwise dispose of
any cow, bull or bullock for slaughter or knowing or havin g reason to believe that such cow, bull or
bullock shall be slaughtered.
5C. Prohibition on possession of flesh of cow, bull or bullock. — Notwithstanding anything
contained in any other law for the time being in force no person shall have in his possessi on flesh of
any cow, bull or bullock slaughtered in contravention of the provisions of this Act.
5D. Prohibition on possession of flesh of cow, bull or bullock slaughtered outside the State
of Maharashtra. — No person shall have in his possession flesh of any cow, bull or bullock
slaughtered outside the State of Maharashtra.].
6. Restrictions on slaughter of scheduled animals. — (1) Notwithstanding anything contained
in any law for the time being in force or any usage or custom to the contrary, no person sh all slaughter
or cause to be slaughtered any scheduled animal in any place in the State of Maharashtra, unless he has
obtained in respect of such animal a certificate in writing from the competent authority that the animal
is fit for slaughter.
(2) No cer tificate shall be granted under sub -section ( 1), if in the opinion of the competent
authority, —
(a) the scheduled animal, whether male or female, is or likely to become economical for the
purpose of draught or any kind of agricultural operations ;
(b) the scheduled animal, if male, is or is likely to become economical for the purpose of
breeding ;
(c) the scheduled animal, if female, is or is likely to become economical for the purpose of
giving milk or bearing offspring.
(3) The State Government may, on an application by any person aggrieved by an order passed by
the competent authority refusing to grant him a certificate, made to it within sixty days from the date of
receipt of such order, or at any time suo motu, call for and examine the records of th e case for the
purpose of satisfying as to the legality or propriety of any order passed by the competent authority
under this section and pass such order in reference thereto as it thinks fit.
(4) A certificate under this section shall be granted in such form and upon payment of such fees
as may be prescribed.
(5) Subject to the provisions of sub -section ( 3), any order passed by the competent authority
granting or refusing to grant a certificate, and any order passed by the State Government under sub-
section (3), shall be final and shall not be called in question in any Court.
7. Scheduled animals to be slaugh tered at specified places only. — No scheduled animal in
respect of which a certificate has been issued under section 6 shall be slaughter in any place other than
a place specified by such authority or officer as the State Government may appoint in that behalf.
1 These words were inserted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 5(a).
2 Sections 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D were inserted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 6.
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8. 1[Power of entry, search, se izure and custody ].— (1) For the purposes of this Act, the
competent authority or any person authorised in writing in that behalf by the competent authority
(hereinafter in this section referred to as “the authorised person”) shall have power to enter and inspect
any place where the competent authority or the authorised person has reason to believe that an offence
under this Act has been, or is likely to be, committed.
(2) Every person in occupation of any such place shall allow the competent authority or
authorised person such access to that place as may be necessary for the aforesaid purpose and shall
answer to the best of his knowledge and belief any question put to him by the competent authority or
the authorised person.
2[(3) Any Police Officer not below the rank of Sub -Inspector or any person authorised in this
behalf by the State Government, may, with a view to securing compliance of the provisions of sections
5A, 5B, 5C or 5D, for satisfying himself that the provisions of the said sections have been complied
with may,—
(a) enter, stop and search, or authorise any person to enter, stop and search any vehicle used
or intended to be used for the export of cow, bull or bullock ;
(b) seize or authorise the seizure of cow, bull or bullock in respect of which he suspects that
any provision of sections 5A, 5B, 5C or 5D has been, is being or is about to be contravened,
alongwith the vehicles in which such cow, bull or bullock are found and there after take or
authorise the taking of all measures necessary for securing the producti on of such cow, bull or
bullock and the vehicles so seized, in a court and for their safe custody pending such production:
Provided that pending trial, seized cow, bull or bullock shall be handed over to the nearest
Gosadan, Goshala, Panjrapole, Hinsa Nivaran Sangh or such other Animal Welfare Organizations
willing to accept such custody and the accused shall be liable to pay for their maintenance for the
period they remain in custody with any of the said institutions or organizations as per the orders of t he
court.
(4) The provisions of section 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) relating to
search and seizure shall, so far as may be, apply to searches and seizures under this section.]
9. 3[Penalty for contra vention of sections 5, 5A or 5B].— Whoever contravenes 4[the
provisions of sections 5, 5A or 5B] shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to 5[five years], or with fine which may extend to 6[ten thousand rupees], or with
both:
7[Provided that e xcept for special and adequate reasons to be recorded in the judgement of the
court such imprisonment shall not be of less than six months and such fine shall not be less than one
thousand rupees.]
8[9A. Penalty for contravention of sections 5C, 5D or 6. — Whoever contravenes the
provisions of sections 5C, 5D or 6 shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to one year or fine which may extend to two thousand rupees.
9B. Burden of proof on accused. — In any trial for an of fence punishable under sections 9 or
9A for contravention of the provisions of this Act, the burden of proving that the slaughter, transport,
export outside the State, sale, purchase or possession of flesh of cow, bull or bullock was not in
contravention of the provisions of this Act, shall be on the accused.]
1 This marginal note was substituted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 7(b).
2 Sub-sections (3) and (4) were added by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 7(a).
3 This marginal note was substituted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 8(e).
4 These words were substituted for the words “any of the provisions of this Act” by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 8(a).
5 These words were substituted for the words “six months” by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 8(b).
6 These words were substituted for the words “one thousands rupees” by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 8(c).
7 This proviso was added by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 8(d).
8 Sections 9A and 9B were inserted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 9.
8 The Maharashtra Animal Preservation [1977 : Mah. IX
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10. Offences under Act to be cognizable 1[and non-bailable].— Notwithstanding anything
contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), all offences und er this Act shall be
cognizable 2[and non-bailable].
11. Abetments and attempts. — Whoever abets any offence punishable under this Act or
attempts to commit any such offence shall be deemed to have committed that offence and shall, on
conviction, be Punished with the punishment provided for such offence under section 9 3[or section
9A].
12. Persons exercising powers under this Act deemed to be public servants .— All persons
exercising powers under this Act shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section
21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
13. Protection of persons acting in good faith under Act or rules. — No suit, prosecution or
other legal proceedings shall be instituted against any person for anything which is in good faith done
or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.
14. Exemptions under this Act. — Subject to any conditions prescribed in this behalf, this Act
shall not apply to,—
(a) any animal (other than cow 4[bull or bullock]) operated upon for vaccine, lymph or
serum at any institution established, conducted or recognised by the State Government;
(b) any animal (other than cow 5[bull or bullock]) operated upon for any experimental or
research purposes at the institution referred to in clause (a);
(c) any animal (other than cow 6[bull or bullock]) or class thereof, —
(i) slaughter of which is certified by a veterinary surgeon authorised in this behalf by
the State Government to be necessary in the interest of the public health;
(ii) which are suffering for any disease which is certified by such veterinary surgeon as
being contagious and dangerous to other animals :
Provided that no animal referred to in this section shall be slaughtered or cause to be slaughtered
unless an authority in writing for such slaughter has been obtained from the competent authority.
15. Delegation of powers.— The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
delegate,—
(a) to any local authority, its powers and functions under section 4 within the local area
subject to the jurisdiction of such local authority ;
(b) to any officer of the State Government, its powers and functions under sub-section (3) of
section 6.
16. Power to make rules. — (1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, and subject to the condition of previous publication, make rules for carrying out the purposes
of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, such rules may
provide for,—
(a) the form of the certificate under section 6 ;
(b) the amount of the fee to be paid for such certificate ;
(c) the conditions subject to which this Act, shall not apply to any scheduled animal under
section 14 ;
1 These words were added by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 10(b).
2 These words were added by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 10(a).
3 These words, figure and letter were added by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 11.
4 These words were inserted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 12(a).
5 These words were inserted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 12(b).
6 These words were inserted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 12(c).
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(d) any other matter which is or may be prescribed.
(3) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be, after it is made, before each
House of the State Legislature while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be
comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which
it is so laid or the session immediately following, both Houses agree in making any modification in the
rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall, from the date of publica tion
of a notification in the Official Gazette of such decision have effect only in such modified form or be of
no effect, as the case may be ; so, however, that any modification or annulment shall be without
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.
17. Repeal and savings. — On the commencement of this Act, the following Acts, that is to
say,—
(1) the Bombay Animal Preservation Act, 1948 (Bom. LXXXI of 1948),
(2) the Bombay Animal Preservation Act, 1954 (Bom. LXXII of 1954),
(3) the Central Provinces and Berar Animal Preservation Act, 1949 (C. P. and Berar LII of
1949), and
(4) the Hyderabad (Slaughter of Animals) Act, 1950 (Hyd. VII of 1950),
shall stand repealed :
Provided that such repeal shall not affect,—
(a) the previous operation of any Act so repealed, or anything duly done or suffered
thereunder ;
(b) any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under any Act so
repealed ;
(c) any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred in re spect of any offence committed
against any Act so repealed ;
(d) any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege,
obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment aforesaid ;
and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced and
any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed, as if this Act had not been passed:
Provided further that, subject to the preceding proviso, anything done or any action taken
(including notifications, orders or certificates issued, appointments or rules made) under any Act so
repealed shall, in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been
done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act and shall continue in force in the
respective area accordingly, unless and until superseded by anything done or any action taken under
this Act.
SCHEDULE
[Section 3 (e)]
Bovines 1[**] female buffaloes and buffalo calves).
1 The words “bulls, bullocks” were deleted by Mah. 5 of 2015, s. 13.