The Supreme Court has set aside Saurabh Bajaj’s conviction under the Chhattisgarh Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, holding that missing transport documents cannot by themselves establish that cattle were being taken for slaughter.
A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran said the prosecution had proved only that police intercepted a truck carrying 32 bullocks. It produced no substantial evidence that a vehicle in which Bajaj was travelling was escorting the truck or that the animals were destined for slaughter.
The veterinary officer and the president of the gaushala committee both testified that the cattle were healthy and suitable for agricultural work. The court held that the Act’s reverse burden on an accused arises only after prosecutors establish the essential ingredients of the offence, including slaughter-related purpose or knowledge.
Any separate violation arising from undocumented transport must be addressed under the relevant law, the bench said, and cannot substitute for proof under the cattle-preservation statute. It quashed the conviction and sentence and allowed the appeal.