New Delhi: Putting to rest the
controversy over serving of beef during Commonwealth Games,
Delhi government today said it will not allow serving of the
food item during the sporting event as it is prohibited here.
PWD and Revenue Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan made a
statement to this effect in Delhi Assembly, days after the
issue of serving beef during Commonwealth Games rocked the
House with BJP MLAs disrupting its functioning.
"The Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1994
prohibits the sale and storage of beef and so will not allow
serving of beef during the Commonwealth Games," Chauhan
informed the Assembly.
On Friday, the issue was raised during 'discussion
under special mention' by Leader of Opposition V K Malhotra
who said Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta had made a statement
that beef will be imported during the event to serve athletes
and officials.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit then said that the
serving of beef was an issue between Organising Committee of
the event, the caterers and MCD and her government had nothing
to do with it.
She said that Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta has only
made it clear that it was for the MCD to decide on the matter.
The Opposition had expressed serious objection to her
statement and asked how could the Chief Minister "shy away
from enforcement of the legislation passed unanimously by the
Assembly".
She also said the BJP was raising the issue as they
were trying to make political capital out of it and that they
were "communal minded".
Meanwhile, Speaker Yoganand Shastri accepted a
privilege motion against the Chief Minister and Congress MLA
Subhash Sachdev on the issue of serving of beef.
Shastri said he has received a privilege notice
against Dikshit and the MLA and it has been accepted.
A notice will be issued to both seeking their
explanation in the matter.
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 22, 2010, 19:31