HC asks state to decide on plea to reduce medical examination fee at Deonar abattoir | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government to decide on the plea filed by the Al Quraish Human Welfare Association challenging the steep hike in the medical examination fees charged at the Deonar abattoir for the cattle taken there for slaughter.

The association’s public interest litigation challenged a notification issued in May 2022 hiking the fee from ₹20 to ₹200 per animal.

The PIL, filed through advocate AA Qureshi, stated that despite a government resolution passed in June 2023, which granted a relaxation on the medical examination fee for cattle meant for sacrifice during Bakri Eid that year, the public slaughterhouse had overcharged an unjustified amount.

The drastic increase in the medical fee led to the petitioner seeking a refund of ₹32.61 lakh, which was allegedly collected in excess from traders during the festival in 2023.

The petition said that the fee hike is in contravention of citizens’ constitutional rights by limiting their access to affordable protein-rich food. It added that the hike also violates the state’s duty to keep citizens healthy and disease-free.

The court had earlier granted the petitioners liberty to submit a representation to the state government to reverse the fee hike, and the government was directed to consider the same. The parties on Tuesday jointly submitted that the state government had considered the petitioner’s representation and reduced the fees from ₹200 to ₹20 on the occasion of Bakri Eid in 2024.

On Tuesday, the division bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice MS Karnik observed that the issue of fee hikes falls within the realm of government policy. Therefore, the petitioners were granted the liberty to submit a representation to the state government for reducing the medical examination fees from ₹200 to ₹20 for the remaining period of the year as well.

“Needless to state that in case such a representation is made, a suitable decision on the said representation shall be taken by the competent authority, expeditiously, in accordance with law”, it concluded.