The Bombay High Court on Tuesday, June 3, permitted animal slaughter for the Eid al-Adha (Bakrid) and Urs at a dargah at the Vishalgad fort in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district.

The fort is a protected monument, citing which the authorities had prohibited the slaughtering of animals and birds on the premises.

A vacation bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Firdosh Pooniwalla heard an application by Hazrat Peer Malik Rehan Dargah Trust, seeking permission for slaughtering animals.

The bench permitted animal slaughter for Bakri Eid to be celebrated on June 7 and the four-day Urs (fair) to be held from June 8 to 12 at the dargah at Vishalgad fort.

The court said the order shall extend not just to the dargah trust but to other devotees too.

The bench said similar permission was granted last year, too.

It added that the conditions imposed last year, like carrying out the animal slaughter only in private and enclosed space, specifically at Gate No. 19, which is privately owned by Mubarak Usman Mujawar, and not in public areas, shall apply this year too.

The deputy director of Archaeology had prohibited animal sacrifice at the fort, citing the Maharashtra Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act. But the trust argued that the sacrifice is an “age-old practice” conducted on private land 1.4 km away from the fort, and that the meat is distributed to pilgrims and villagers nearby.