New Delhi: The Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Harsh Sanghavi, has congratulated the state police and the “government side” after a sessions court found three Muslim men guilty of cow slaughter and awarded them life sentences. Sanghvi’s celebratory post on X came soon after the Gandhinagar court’s order, which leaned heavily on Hindu scripture.The 1954 state law that bars the slaughter of cows and calves was amended in 2017 to make life imprisonment the maximum penalty. A 2011 amendment had barred all cow slaughter regardless of the condition of the animal.“This verdict under the Gujarat Animal Preservation Act is a clear message that the law will never spare those who commit cow slaughter in Gujarat,” said Sanghavi. “Protecting the cow mother is Gujarat’s unwavering resolve. Congratulations to the Gandhinagar Police and the government side for the accurate investigation and presenting strong evidence,” he wrote on X on Thursday, October 29.He hashtagged “Gau Raksha” and “Gujarat Police” in his post. Gau Raksha translates to cow protection as well as vigilantism over alleged threats to cows, which has claimed many Muslim and Dalit lives in Gujarat and elsewhere.As per a report in the Indian Express, the court sentenced Asfaq Behlim, Vasim Qureshi and Mohd Rafiq Qureshi in an order that recites Sanskrit shlokas, quoting from Manusmriti and referring to Vedas.Also read: ‘We Are Always Guilty Because We Are Muslims’: Gujarat’s Cow Laws Are Pushing a Community into PovertyThe order begins with a Sanskrit shloka that roughly translates to:“Protecting the cow is an act associated with religion and compassion. Justice protects the truth. Where the killing of a cow takes place, legal action should be taken. If the offence against the accused is established by evidence, appropriate punishment should be imposed in accordance with the applicable law. Religion and justice can be established only by following the path of justice. Protecting living beings and ensuring compliance with the law are important duties of a just society.”“According to the Vedas and Hindu religious scriptures, when drops of nectar from Lord Brahma’s mouth fell on the earth through penance, the Surabhi cow appeared. She is considered the mother of all bovine beings,” the additional sessions judge, Brijeshkumari Rameshwar Singh Rajput said in the order, says the Express report.Rajput also held that the cow was the “mother of the world” and that it was the “abode of 33 crore” deities.Six persons were arrested in Jamla village of Kalol taluk in August 2024 and faced charges of cow slaughter. The prosecution reportedly argued that they were involved in purchasing and slaughtering bovines that no longer produced milk. One died during the trial and three have been convicted. They were found with 277 kilos of meat, later confirmed to be beef.In early October 2026, local state media reported that 15 persons were convicted in Surat for cow slaughter, receiving sentences ranging from 7 years to life imprisonment.Deputy CM Sanghavi has made several statements regarding cow slaughter in Gujarat. He recently said, after another conviction in a separate case, that the state government would “aggressively pursue” an end to cow slaughter as well as “cow killers”, which invited applause from his audience. He has claimed 15 arrests in such cases over a year.On October 30, Sanghvi shared two images and a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi petting calves on X, with a message: “Serving Mother Cow is a sacred rite, and her protection forms the foundation of Sanatana Dharma.”The cow-related announcements appear to relate to a visit by Modi to an “ET-IVF laboratory and the Bharat Bovine Breeding and Research Centre Cattle Farm in Bhildi in the Banaskantha district” on the morning of October 30. The prime minister is on a two-day visit to his home stage.Most of the arrests in these cases were made as part of a police raid, a common practice in Gujarat. As The Wire reported in April, on November 6, 2023, the police raided the home of the two brothers Kasim and Akram, and their uncle Sattar, allegedly after receiving a tip-off. Police claimed to have found beef, remains of a slaughtered calf and slaughter equipment.On November 11, 2025, the Amreli Sessions Court convicted these persons under the Animal Preservation Act, and ordered them to pay a combined fine of Rs 18 lakh.