NEW DELHI: The widows of five men, including Pehlu Khan, who were allegedly lynched by cow vigilante groups in Rajasthan and Haryana challenged provisions of cow protection laws of the two states in the Supreme Court on Monday alleging that these legislations encouraged vigilantism in the name of stopping smuggling of cattle and beef.A bench of Justices B R Gavai and J B Pardiwala asked their counsel, Kapil Sibal, why the petitioners did not approach the high court concerned and decided to move the SC directly.

"Are the HCs lacking authority or capacity to deal with this issue?" the bench asked.tnnGo to HC on cow protection laws, says SC refusing to entertain plea Sibal said the petitions involved challenge to legislations of two states - Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 2015, and Haryana Govansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015 - empowering private groups to conduct search and seizure of premises of those suspected of illegally transporting cattle and beef.Sibal said since legislations of two states were involved, it would be prudent for the court to decide the validity of the provisions of these two laws, the enactment of which had led to increase in lynching of Muslim men on the suspicion of smuggling cattle or beef.

The incidents were repeating in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan and Nuh, Mewat and Palwal in Haryana, he added.Apart from Pehlu Khan's widow, the others were widows of Junaid, Nasir Khan, Rakbar Khan and Ummar.To justify the filing of the writ petition directly in the SC, Sibal said these cross-border incidents could not be dealt with by the HC of any of these two states.However, the bench asked whether it should not await the decision of an HC.

"We are not inclined to entertain the petition.

The petitioners can move the appropriate HC," it said.