New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the regulation enacted by the Tamil Nadu authorities permitting the massively fashionable bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’ and bullock cart races. The order was handed by a five-judge Constitution bench of Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar. Supreme Court, whereas dismissing all of the pleas difficult the validity of the state’s regulation permitting bull-taming sport Jallikattu and bullock cart races, mentioned the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017, considerably minimises ache and struggling to animals.
The Tamil Nadu authorities had defended the occasion of ‘Jallikattu’ and informed the apex court docket that sporting occasions may also be cultural occasions and there’s no cruelty on the bulls in ‘Jallikattu’. “This is an incorrect notion that an activity, which is in nature of a sport or entertainment or amusement, cannot have a cultural value,” the state had mentioned. Countries like Peru, Columbia and Spain contemplate bullfighting part of their cultural heritage, the Tamil Nadu authorities had argued, including that bulls concerned in ‘Jallikattu’ are maintained by farmers across the yr.
The apex court docket had earlier requested the Tamil Nadu authorities whether or not an animal can be utilized in bull-taming sports activities like ‘Jallikattu’ for the leisure of people and the way is the game needed for preserving the native breed of bulls. Tamil Nadu authorities in its affidavit had acknowledged that Jallikattu is “not merely an act of entertainment or amusement but an event with great historic, cultural and religious value.”
Jallikattu – A Popular Bull-Taming Sport In TN
Jallikattu is performed throughout the Pongal pageant as thanksgiving for a great harvest and subsequent festivals are performed in temples which reveals that the occasion has nice cultural and non secular significance. In February 2018, the Supreme Court referred to the Constitution bench whether or not the individuals of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra can preserve Jallikattu and bullock-cart races as their cultural proper and demand their safety underneath Article 29 (1) of the Constitution.
The high court docket had earlier mentioned that the petitions difficult the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017, wanted to be determined by a bigger bench since they concerned substantial questions regarding the interpretation of the Constitution.
It had mentioned {that a} bigger bench would determine whether or not states have the “legislative competence” to make such legal guidelines on grounds, together with that Jallikattu and bullock cart racing fell underneath the cultural rights enshrined underneath Article 29(1) and could be protected constitutionally.
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra had amended the central regulation, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and allowed Jallikattu and bullock cart racing, respectively. Several petitions have been filed within the high court docket difficult the state legal guidelines.
PETA Challenges Law Allowing Jallikattu
A batch of petitions, led by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), sought course to quash the ‘Jallikattu’ regulation handed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, which introduced bulls again into the fold of “performing animals”. PETA challenged the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill 2017 handed by the state meeting on a number of grounds, together with that it circumvented the apex court docket verdict holding the bull-taming sport as “illegal” within the state.
The high court docket had earlier dismissed the Tamil Nadu authorities’s plea looking for a assessment of the 2014 judgement banning using bulls for Jallikattu occasions within the state and bullock cart races throughout the nation.
