 bill no 298 of 2015 the prevention of cruelty to animals (amendment) bill, 2015 by shri bhartruhari mahtab, mp a billfurther to amend the prevention of cruelty to animals act, 1960be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—2 for section 28 of the prevention of cruelty to animals act, 1960, the following section shall be substituted, namely,—substitution of new section for section 285"28 (1) the central government shall, in consultation with state governments, within a period of one year from the coming into force of the prevention of cruelty to animals (amendment) act, 2015, notify the religious occasions on which it is customary to sacrifice animalsprovisions as to sacrificial killing of animals during religious occasions(2) nothing contained in this act shall render it an offence to kill any animal in a manner required by the religion of any community on any religious occasion notified under sub-section (1)10(3) during religious occasions notified under sub-section (1), every act of killing of an animal for sacrificial purposes under sub-section (2), shall be carried out in isolation where it is not within the view of other sacrificial animals(4) every act of killing of an animal for sacrificial purposes during a religious occasion shall be carried out by trained persons and using such methods, as may be prescribed by the central government, to ensure minimum pain and trauma to the sacrificial animal"15 statement of objects and reasonsanimal sacrifice is a very common ritual that exists in many religious communities the reason cited to justify it is to seek divine favor, both individual such as good health and fortune; and collective such as rain and good harvest since, these rituals have continued for centuries, it is difficult to question the relevance of such rituals however, the manner in which animal sacrifices are carried out has often been criticized for being too cruelone major concern in brutality of animal sacrifice lies in the methods used for killing animals often the weapon used for animal sacrifice is not appropriate for the purpose moreover, animals sacrifice is usually carried out by untrained persons as a result, animals are not only injured during sacrifice but are then left to die, thus prolonging their sufferinganother disturbing aspect of animal sacrifice is that often animals are sacrificed in full view of other sacrificial animals this causes severe mental trauma to animals awaiting sacrificein order to address the above issues and to ensure that minimum trauma is caused to an animal during sacrifice, the bill seeks to amend the prevention of cruelty to animals act,1960 with a view to provide that—(i) central government shall, in consultation with the state governments, notify the religious occasions on which it is customary to sacrifice animal; and(ii) animal sacrifices on religious occasions shall be carried out in isolation and by trained persons and using such methods as may be prescribed to ensure minimum pain and trauma to the sacrificial animal hence this billnew delhi;bhartruhari mahtabnovember 13, 2015 memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 2(4) of the bill empowers the central government to prescribe by rules the methods of animal sacrifice to ensure minimum pain and trauma to the sacrificial animalas the rules to be framed relates to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character annexure extract from the prevention of cruelty to animals act, 1960      chapter vi miscellaneous28 nothing contained in this act shall render it an offence to kill any animal in a manner required by the religion of any community      saving as respects manner of killing prescribed by religion———— a billfurther to amend the prevention of cruelty to animals act, 1960————(shri bhartruhari mahtab, mp)gmgipmrnd—2879ls(s3)—04122015