The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the conduct of jallikattu in Tamil Nadu during Pongal festival in January next year in accordance with the law enacted by it for regulation of the event. A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra refused the stay when senior counsel Aryma Sundaram, appearing for the Animal Welfare Board, pleaded for it.
After hearing Additional Advocate General Guru Krishnakumar for Tamil Nadu, the Bench issued notice to the Board on a petition seeking transfer of the cases pending before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court filed by the Board last year for adjudication by the Supreme Court.
In the transfer petition, the State stated that jallikattu was governed by the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act, 2009.
A writ petition challenging this law was pending before this court. While so, in July 2011, the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a notification bringing bulls under Section 22 of Chapter V of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
