New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday suspended for two months a court order for enforcing the ban on the sale of beef in Jammu & Kashmir, and asked the Chief Justice of the J&K High Court to set up a three-judge bench to decide on two conflicting orders on the issue.

A bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy directed that the September 8 order of the Jammu bench of the High Court ordering enforcement of a ban on sale of beef in the state in pursuance of Ranbir Penal Code be kept in abeyance for two months.

The bench noted that the Srinagar bench of the high court had given the state the liberty to amend the RPC provision in question.

The Ranbir Penal Code is a version of the Indian Penal Code that applies only to Jammu & Kashmir.

The bench said, ”Since there are conflicting expressions given by two division benches of the high court, we request the learned Chief Justice to constitute a bench of three learned judges to take a decision on the writ petitions.”

Asking the apex court registry to intimate its counter part about the order “forthwith”, the court further said that the Chief Justice of the high court would be at liberty to decide the place where the larger bench will hear and decide together the two writ petitions.

The bench disposed of the petition filed by the state government, which had said that the inconsistent views of the two benches of the high court were being “misused” to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state.

While the Jammu bench of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court had ordered enforcement of the bar on the sale of beef in the state under the RPC, the Srinagar bench agreed to hear a separate plea seeking scrapping of the provision that bars slaughter of bovine animals.

The order asking the police to enforce the beef ban had led to strong protests in the state and forced the government to shut down internet access for three days during the Eid festival to prevent misuse of web-based apps such as Whatsapp to create communal tension.