The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to a person accused of cow slaughter noting that the case was a “glaring example” of misuse of the law, reported Live Law.

The court was hearing a plea moved by a person called Nizamuddin, who had been booked last year under various sections of the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act.

In August last year, Nizamuddin and three others had been accused of slaughtering a calf in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. The police had said that the first informant had found a cord and semi-digested cow dung at the site of the alleged crime. The first information report also noted that some of the locals had seen the accused person taking a calf to the field.

However, Justice Faiz Alam Khan noted that the investigating officer in the case did not recover remains of the animal from any of the accused persons. The police had only found a rope and some cow dung, which it cited as evidence, the judge observed, according to Bar and Bench.

“[The] instant case is a glaring example of misuse of penal law as neither the prohibited animal nor its flesh, has been recovered from the possession of any accused person,” judge said in his order.

He also noted that keeping cows and calf was a common practice in the villages “irrespective of caste, creed, and religion”.

“The duty of state is to ensure fair investigation which in the considered opinion of this Court has not been done in the instant case,” the order stated.

The court also directed the Uttar Pradesh Police chief to ask investigation officers to ensure fair investigation in all criminal cases and in cases pertaining to cow slaughter in particular, reported Live Law.

Also read: Cow protection was a sensitive subject in India even when the Constitution was being framed