A division bench of the Gauhati High Court in Kohima delivered a split verdict on Wednesday on two writ petitions seeking a ban on dog meat sales in Nagaland. Justice Budi Habung dismissed the pleas as devoid of merit and upheld the order allowing sale and consumption of dog meat, while Justice Robin Phukan allowed the appeals and quashed the 2023 order. A detailed order is awaited.
A division bench of the Gauhati High Court at Kohima delivered a split verdict on Wednesday on two writ appeals challenging a June 2, 2023, judgment. That judgment had quashed the Nagaland government's July 2020 order banning the commercial import and trading of dogs, dog markets, and the sale of dog meat in restaurants.
The appeals were filed by People For Animals (PFA) and Humane Society International/India in 2023, and by Akhil Bharat Krishi Goseva Sangh in 2024. On June 2, 2023, Justice Marli Vankun ruled that the chief secretary lacked authority under section 30 of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 to issue the ban.
Justice Budi Habung dismissed the pleas as devoid of merit and upheld the 2023 order permitting sale and consumption of dog meat. Justice Robin Phukan, however, allowed the appeals and quashed the 2023 order.
The Nagaland cabinet decided on the 2020 ban, notified by the chief secretary on July 4, 2020. Traders challenged it in September 2020. Dog meat is regarded as more than a delicacy by Nagas and certain communities in the region, though many Nagas do not consume it, drawing mixed reactions.