India, Jan. 24 -- Observing that a claim of being "misled" by meat-sellers was just a "clever ploy and an afterthought" by a man accused of carrying cow meat in violation of law, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed his anticipatory bail plea.

Justice Aaradhna Sawhney, in her order in the case of Noor Mohammad - a 62-year-old man from Burail in Chandigarh who is accused of transporting beef - noted that the he had failed to make out a case of "exceptional depravity or hardship" that would entitle him to the extraordinary relief of pre-arrest bail.

The case stems from an FIR registered on July 19, 2025, after 50 kg of meat was recovered from a two-wheeler in Chandigarh. While the petitioner, Noor Mohammad, initially claimed th...