President has given his assent to the passing of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995, that was drafted during the BJP-Shiv Sena rule.President had signed the Bill and sent it to Home Ministry, which then communicated to the Maharashtra Governor of the decision. Now, anyone found possessing beef or selling it can be fined Rs. 10,000 and jailed up to 5 years.
“This is a historic step, which has cultural as well as economic implications for the state. We had passed this Act when we were in power in 1995 and had sent it for the President’s nod in 1996. Subsequent governments in the state, however, failed to do the needful to get the Bill implemented. We had promised in our manifesto to bring this Bill and we have managed to do it,” BJP MP from Mumbai has been quoted as saying.
