NEW DELHI: Following the Madras high court’s similar action in May, the Supreme Court (SC) too on Tuesday ordered a three-month stay on the Centre’s rules banning the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter.

The SC forced the Centre to undertake before it that it would not implement these rules, which the Madras high court put on hold on May 30.

These orders staying the new ‘no slaughter’ regulations give some reprieve to butchers’ business across the country. Meat suppliers had already planned to petition the Supreme Court about the huge setback to their businesses with the new Central rules.

On May 23, the Centre had issued new rules banning the sales of cattle for slaughter.

A week later, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court stayed this ‘slaughter ban’ for four weeks and asked the Union environment ministry and the Tamil Nadu government to respond to a petition filed by a Madurai-based activist-lawyer and vegetarian S Selvagomathy.

On Tuesday, the Centre, arguing against the ‘stay’, said that since the Madurai bench of the Madras high court stayed the new rules they were unlikely to be implemented immediately. It added that the government is listening to various organisations that are against these new rules and that it plans to bring changes in the rules by August end.

The Centre said identification and notification of livestock markets by the various States would also take three months and until then there would be no implementation.

Still, the SC decided to go ahead and stay the ‘no slaughter’ rules issued by the Union environment ministry.

The Centre’s new ‘no slaughter’ rules of May 23 include, among other things, written certification from both a seller and a buyer that the sale of cattle is not for slaughter. The buyer – a bonafide farmer who produces dairy products – has to certify that cattle will not be sold within six months.