A member of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) on Tuesday knocked at the Supreme Court’s doors to protect the statutory body from the government’s wrath for challenging its January 7, 2016 notification allowing jallikattu.
Apprehending “coercive steps” from the government for defying its notification and further challenging it in the Supreme Court, AWBI member N.G. Jayasimha urged the apex court to quash a showcause notice issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on March 28.
In the notice, the Ministry had demanded the animal rights body to explain its action of approaching the Supreme Court without seeking permission from it.
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The Centre had that said the AWBI has no locus standi to move the Supreme Court against the Ministry’s notification lifting the ban on jallikattu. Mr. Jayasimha said the AWBI had replied on April 6, simply asking the Ministry to withdraw the notice.
The member submitted in his latest application that the Ministry had no business to question the AWBI’s locus standi. Mr. Jayasimha said the AWBI, by challenging the notification, had only done its statutory duty to protect the rights and welfare of the animals.
The January 7 notification circumvents the May 7, 2014 Supreme Court judgment by introducing several regulations meant to protect bulls, all the while glossing over the fact that the very act of jallikattu is “inherently cruel” and blatantly violates several provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 as interpreted by the apex court two years ago.
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