Three get eight years in jail for selling beef

Ahmedabad: A city sessions court on Saturday punished three persons with eight-year imprisonment and imposed Rs 2 lakh fine on each of them after they were found guilty of selling beef.

According to the case details, Samir Sheikh, Zafarkhan Pathan and Mohamed Azmal Sheikh were found selling beef in the Rakhial area on May 4, 2019. The police seized 250kg of beef from them. Along with these three, two others — Kalam Hussain Qureshi and Zishan Qureshi — were also booked for aiding them in the crime. They were booked under the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, the GPMC Act and IPC provisions.

During the trial, additional public prosecutor Bhavesh Patel examined seven witnesses, including the FSL officer, who testified that the analysis of meat samples revealed that it was beef.

After the trial, the court found Samir, Zafarkhan and Mohamad Azmal guilty of possessing beef and selling it, and acquitted Kalam and Zishan, who were accused of transporting the beef stock in their vehicle. For sentencing, the court said, “Given the nature of the case and the fact that it is an anti-social offence, there is no question of granting the benefit of probation... On one hand, the law demands a strict penalty to discourage the illegal possession of beef and to respect the legislature’s intent to protect cow progeny. On the other hand, since the accused come from a poor and disadvantaged background, the court should avoid a punishment that is unnecessarily soul-crushing.”

“In the present case, the offence committed by the accused was not done in the heat of passion or under provocation; rather, they were found selling beef in their possession, having acted deliberately for financial gain. Being adults, they were well aware of the nature of their actions and the potential consequences.”