Mangaluru: Justice M. F. Saldanha, former Judge of Karnataka and Mumbai High Court said on Saturday that beef export from India should be immediately banned.
Former Judge M F Saldanha
In an interactive press meet, Saldanha said according to his sources, around 4000 to 8000 cattle are transported illegally from Karnataka to Kerala every month.
“Most of them are transported during the night. The animals are transported in a cruel manner, breaking their legs and dumping more cattle than the capacity in a small van. Kerala exports beef to Gulf countries which is very much liked there because the Indian beef is lean meat with a relatively low fat content,” he said.
Saldanha also noted the fact that 40-50 per cent population of many countries has turned vegetarian and also that there were no buyers for the beef sold from their countries.
But our country cannot afford to export beef, because we do not have a farm to rear cattle like other countries. After being the biggest exporter of beef in the world, what benefit our country and society has received from the business? The greed of money making from cattle has led to illegal lifting and transportation of cattle, said the former Judge.
Construction of new DC office at Padil
Speaking about the early days of his life, Saldanha said that the Karavalli region was full of coconut trees and is still the same. He said, “I am a nature lover and an environmentalist. I had appealed earlier to the people of this region to grow more coconut trees in Karavalli region and take care of them,” he said.
“In spite of so many other places available, the government chose the land belonging to the Forest Department to build the new District Administration office at Padil. All they want is to cut numerous trees and go ahead with the construction of the office building. When environmentalist, activists and likeminded people approached the high court, it did not entertain the petition and simply dismissed it. On my advice, they approached the National Green Tribunal which issued stay orders,” he added.
Purse seine fishing nets – A threat to sea life
Saldanha said that fishermen fishing with the traditional fishing nets catch big fishes and the small ones naturally slip through the net. But the purse seine fishing nets are spread like a purse and the sea life getting caught cannot escape and are brought to the shore. The one for sale are brought to the market, while the rest is discarded. The result is eliminating thousands of sea life at infancy.
Dismiss the culprit who threw the dog from terrace from further studies
Justice Saldhana said that the MBBS student in Chennai who threw a dog from the terrace, should be dismissed from studying further. The student has shown that he was not mentally fit enough to become a doctor. That would be my recommendation as a proper punishment. If he was a normal student, he would not have thought of such a cruel act, he said.
Law should take its own course in DySP Ganapathy suicide case
When his attention was drawn to DySP Ganapathy suicide case and also that the deceased officer had given an interview to a TV channel and held responsible three prominent persons, if anything would happen to him, Saldanha said that action should be taken as per law. If Ganapathy has named any person as the cause for his death, then law should take its own course in the interest of justice, the former judge said.
