Jallikattu: Supreme Court upholds Tamil Nadu law passed to overturn court’s jallikattu ban | India News

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of state laws framed to allow bull-taming sport jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, buffalo racing in Karnataka (kambala) and bullock cart race in Maharashtra, saying that there are sufficient provisions to prevent cruelty to animals in these ancient sports.
A five-judge constitution bench of Justices K M Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and C T Ravikumar found no flaw in the Acts framed by TN, Karnataka and Maharashtra. It said the court’s jurisdiction didn’t extend to giving absolute protection to animals from any manner of pain but to ensure that the animals are protected from unnecessary suffering, and these laws fulfil the test.

Bovine sports have been altered: SC
Upholding the amendments in law enacted by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra to allow traditional animal sports, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to accept the plea that the amendment Acts were void because they sought to override its 2014 judgment in the A Nagaraja case.
It said that such arguments cannot be sustained as the basis of that judgment with regard to the nature and manner in which the offending activities were carried on has been altered.
“In our opinion, the expressions jallikattu, kambala and bull cart race as introduced by the amendment Acts of the three states have undergone substantial change in the manner they were used in practice, and the conditions that prevailed at the time of the A Nagaraja judgment cannot be equated with the present situation,” the court said.
It added: “We cannot come to the conclusion that in the changed circumstances, absolutely no pain or suffering would be inflicted upon the bulls while holding these sports. But we are satisfied that the large part of pain-inflicting practices… in the manner these three sports were performed in the pre-amendment period, have been substantially diluted by the introduction of these statutory instruments.”

The laws were framed after the apex court in 2014 banned jallikattu and bullock-cart race for causing cruelty to animals. To override the apex court’s order, the Centre issued a notification that bulls might be continued to be trained as performing animals at events such as jallikattu and bullock cart races in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala and Gujarat for being part of the states’ culture, and three state governments thereafter brought amendments in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
“All the three bovine sports, after the amendment, assume different character in their performance and practice and for these reasons we do not accept the petitioners’ argument that the amendment Acts were merely a piece of colourable legislation with cosmetic change to override judicial pronouncement. Once we read the amended statutes with the respective rules or notification, we do not find them to encroach upon the Central legislation,” it said.

The court said Tamil Nadu amendment Act is not a piece of colourable legislation and it minimises cruelty to animals in the sport. It also accepted that jallikattu was a practice going back in at least a few centuries in Tamil Nadu and it was a part of the state’s culture. “In our opinion, the Tamil Nadu amendment Act does not go contrary to Articles 51-A(g) and 51-A(h) and it does not violate the provisions of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution,” it said while upholding all three laws.
“However, we direct that the law contained in the act/rules/notification shall be strictly enforced by the authorities. In particular, we direct that the district magistrates/competent authorities shall be responsible for ensuring strict compliance of the law, as amended along with its rules/notifications,” the bench said.

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“Our tradition and culture have been protected…” S Regupathy on SC’s verdict on ‘Jallikattu’

Must etch verdict in golden words: Stalin
T amil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin was on Thursday effusive in his praise of the Supreme Court verdict, upholding the law allowing bull sport Jallikattu in the state. Stalin tweeted: “The SC verdict, which gave the green signal to Jallikattu, the game symbolising the bravery and tradition of Tamils, should be etched in golden words.”

It’s like taking India to dark ages: Peta
P eta India expressed disappointment at the SC verdict, and said allowing such violent sports involving animals in this day and age was akin to “throwing the country into the dark ages”. Peta India’s deputy director of advocacy projects, Harshil Maheshwari, said: “Peta India is calling on everyone to steer clear of shameful spectacles.”

06:24

Supreme Court upholds validity of Tamil Nadu’s traditional bull-taming sport Jallikattu