The Supreme Court yesterday stayed a government decision to allow the traditional bull-taming sport, Jallikattu, held in Tamil Nadu after animal rights activists challenged the move.
The court issued a temporary stay order on the central government’s decision to reverse a 2014 ban.
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) had filed a petition urging the court to reinstate the ban on the sport, in which bulls are let loose and young men compete to subdue them.
Activists say the sport, which is held during the harvest festival of Pongal, is cruel and abusive. But it has a loyal local following and the court’s decision sparked angry protests in Tamil Nadu, where preparations for the event had already begun.
The court said it was issuing the stay order “as an interim measure”, following an initial hearing in which the attorney general argued that the government had put safeguards in place for the animals.
He said Jallikattu, or “bull-taming”, was an important part of local culture, where it marks the start of the annual winter harvest.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one of a number of animal rights groups that backed the AWBI challenge, welcomed the court’s decision.
“The Honourable Supreme Court’s stay... is a partial victory for sensitive bulls, who will be spared cruelties such as being deliberately disoriented by being given substances like alcohol and having their tails painfully broken joint by joint and bitten for Jallikattu,” PETA India chief executive Poorva Joshipura said in a statement.
“I am delighted after hearing the news. It is a pity that the battle has to be fought continuously,” AWBI vice chairman S Chinny Krishna said.
Unlike in traditional Spanish bull-fighting, the aim is not to kill the animals.
But critics say they are fed liquor and have chilli powder thrown into their eyes before they are released from a holding pen and chased by revellers.
The former Congress-led central government earlier ordered a ban in 2011, but it was not implemented until 2015 after the Supreme Court had dismissed a slew of legal challenges.
The event was cancelled last year for the first time, but local political parties had lobbied the federal government to have the ban quashed - possibly with an eye on state elections later this year.
Yesterday Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking that the event be allowed to go ahead this year since all arrangements had already been put in place.
“On behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu I urge you to take immediate action in this regard,” she said in the letter.
Tamil Nadu’s opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karuananidhi also made a similar demand.
Expressing disappointment over the court order, T Velmurugan, founder of Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi and a former legislator, said: “As per the law of the land, the Supreme Court has decided.”
“The fault is on the central government. It could have amended the law properly by deleting bull from the banned list. The central government seemed to have acted with an eye to votes with its notification.”
According to him, the state government, after consulting legal experts, can look at promulgating an ordinance/law allowing Jallikattu as a sport since sports also falls under the concurrent list of the Constitution.
“You need to understand Jallikattu is done under a lot of care. The bulls are specially trained for the event and they are well looked after the festival. Jallikattu is part of our centuries- old culture and heritage,” Khushboo, actress and Congress leader told NDTV.
Meanwhile an expert at a cattle research foundation said the blanket ban on Jallikattu will result in the vanishing of Indian breeds of bulls and cows and would lead to import of foreign animals.